Umbrella Man: Thin Man
by Xonze
Summary: Rick and Kate didn't forget what they had seen those last few days of October last year. They didn't forget the things that the Umbrella Man had shown them... and he didn't forget about them.
1. There Are No Ghosts

**A/N:**

One, I wrote this for this past Halloween, its been posted else where but not the last few chapters. Also, if you haven't read Umbrella Man you may want to as this takes place a year after the first and references it quite a bit. Link: /s/7714320/1/Umbrella_Man

Two, there will be some bloody bits, some sad bits and some scary bits. It's a scary story, which means that I'm going to be playing some 'games' in the story. Things aren't always going to pleasant, but there will be good fluffly parts here and there. I have to ask you to trust me to bring it all to a good ending.

Three, enjoy!

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><p><strong>AN2:**

The_ skies had grown dark outside of the mansion and Xonze leaned back in his chair, watched the clouds churn. They'd be there soon, he thought with a thin smile. His readers would soon be on his doorsteps, not sure what to expect. More than a year had gone by, and he wondered if they would be happy or worried when they saw the story he had in store for them. _

_Planning began months ago, and he still had the finishing touches to put on the work, but the first part was ready for them. He couldn't help but hope they would enjoy it, even with the horror bits. _

_"Sir, they've arrived." Xonze turned in his chair, found his butler, Martin, standing in the door way, as skeleton-like as ever._

_"Thank you, please show them in."_

_"At once." He left and Xonze went to work on posting the story for them all to read. _

_"And so, the season has truly been kicked off," he said as he hit the enter button on his laptop. _

_Rain splattered behind him on the window panes in tiny thuds and he felt a chill run over his neck. He would need an umbrella, he thought when he turned around, if he was going to town as he planned._

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

**There Are No Ghosts**

A lot can happen in a year, Rick thought as he sat at his desk and stared out the window. Outside an October sun set behind clouds that shared the sky with redwood-like buildings. Fall had come and seemed to be making a home for itself in the city.

He still couldn't quite come to terms with the things that happened the fall before, and he still woke from nightmares of Kate lying in a pool of her own blood. Then again, he had those nightmares from time to time before that.

The entire Umbrella Man thing still tore at him, and yet he was glad it happened. It brought them together, didn't it?

His chair squeaked gently in the stillness of his home as he turned to face the living room. On the couch, a booklet of papers in one hand and a half eaten apple in the other, sat someone who he didn't think he could live without anymore. That made three people that became his lifelines. Strange how quickly the heart can attach itself, he thought with a small smile.

He took her in while she sat there, took in her thin frame, her strong posture and long legs that sat with one swinging on the knee of the other. There was also her face, which struck him dumb at times, surrounded by ringlets of brown hair. She was, he thought as he tried to get his breathing normal, a picture of beauty for him. How the hell did she ever decide to be with him?

Almost six months ago he thought he'd lost her. They were getting so close to solving her mother's murder, so close and then it all shattered. He couldn't remember a pain worse than the one he felt in that waiting room. He blamed himself more than anything for her being in there, and when Kate found out she tore him apart. She hated that he took all the blame on. It took a long time to get through that all, but they came out all right on the other side, and somehow... she stayed with him once she got everything straight in herself. Loved him. He couldn't shake the feeling of the nightmares becoming real though, and he still awoke dripping in sweat sometimes.

She took a bite out of the apple, her eyes scanning the page and then what Rick had been waiting for happened. She smiled. It came slowly, but that made it even better, he could watch the laughter and happiness form inch by inch.

She then broke into a giggle.

It was such a strange sound to come from her, one he was getting use to hearing. This one came slightly muffled as she placed the back of her hand to her lips to keep apple chunks from spewing from her mouth. He found that cute too.

"Castle, you're out of your mind." She called, short of breath and looked up, the smile growing slightly when their eyes met. He figured she knew he'd been watching her as he always did when she read one of his works in progress... and if he was honest he'd say he watched her whenever he could.

Yeah, a lot could change in a year.

"Are you just learning this now, Detective? I thought you knew me better than that." He stood, rounded the desk and then sat on the edge of it. "It made you laugh, so it can't be all bad."

"It made me laugh because it's inane."

"Aw, come on. Don't be mean." He said and grinned as he pushed off the desk and came to her. He sat down on the armrest, placed an arm around her shoulders and she leaned into him. A comfortable embrace and it still sent shocks along his spine. "Okay... just how inane was it?"

"It's pretty out there, but I like it. I don't know if your editor will make you take it out, but it's an interesting twist."

"People call me a master of the twist." He said and she turned her eyes to him, which made him shrug. "Okay, so maybe I just do... when I'm in the bathroom and shaving."

"That explains all the mumbling I hear when I'm in the shower."

"Really? I thought that was you singing-ow!" He jerked back when her fist connected with his side. He couldn't get use to how quick she could move at times.

"Don't knock my singing, Castle."

"Right, sorry, sorry-" He stood away with a small spin, keeping out of her reach. "Alexis thought that part was stupid too, so I guess I better change it."

"Why do I get the feeling you just put it in there to get a rise out of me?"

He laughed as he reached out and snatched the apple from her hand and, ignoring her protest, took a bite out of it. "My dear Detective, I'd do anything to get a rise out of you."

"Creep," she said and snatched the apple back. She bit off the last of the skin and then turned her attention back to him, a look in her eyes that he couldn't quite place. "So, when are Rook and Nikki getting married?"

Rick choked on the chunk of apple. His entire air pipe closed, his heart sped up to light speed and he coughed. Luckily it wasn't lodged in place and holding it between his teeth he asked, "Ma-married?"

"Yeah, they've been dating for awhile now. It's the next step, isn't it?" She gave a sly smile, but Rick wasn't entirely sure if she was being serious, or if she was completely messing with him. He leaned toward both and so stood there and chewed, tried to buy time.

"Well... that is-I mean, sure they've been dating for a bit, but marriage? That's... that's a big..."

She broke out into a fit of laughter which lighten his mind like a plug had been pulled. "Oh, nice. Real nice, Beckett."

"Come on, you should have seen your face. I wish I had my camera." She said as she fell back onto the couch, her arms going to her stomach as she continued to laugh.

"Wasn't it you that said no more practical jokes last week?" He asked as he moved down to the couch, pinned her underneath him.

"Yeah, because replacing all the underwear I have here with edible versions is not funny in the middle of the night when I get called to a scene." She pushed against his chest with a hand, her fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt.

"Really? I thought it was hilarious... and you got me back for that one already."

"I did, didn't I?" She touched his face when he brought it down and brushed his lips against hers. "At this rate we're gonna have a big fight soon."

"Oh, and why is that?" He kissed her again.

"We're about due for one."

"Really? Did I mark my calendar for the wrong date?" He asked as he reached out and picked up his phone from the coffee table, crushing her slightly under his weight which made her grunt and then hit him. He ignored her and hoped it would annoy her. "I have our next blow out for November 3rd at three o'clock with make up sex the next night at seven."

"Really think we'd have make-up sex that quickly?"

"Got to keep to the schedule." He gave her a grin and she laughed.

"Maybe we could get an early start." He felt one of her hands skirt down his side and then come to a stop at his waistband, the other already unbuttoning his shirt.

"Overachiever," Rick said against her lips as he kissed her. His fingers nimbly went to work on the buttons of her blouse and exposed her bra and stomach in record time. He dropped back from her lips and worked his way down, along her chin and neck and then further, nipping her skin with his teeth as he went. He smiled as each one sent a shiver through her skin.

She groaned as he reached a little below her belly button and here he lingered, tickling her skin with lips and tongue until the groan deepened. It ended with an even louder, frustrated groan, which he joined in on when the cellphone on the end table rang.

Rick dropped his head to her stomach and just laid against it as it rose and fell with her breathing. "Why? Why is it every time we get the place to ourselves and we get down to it the damn phone rings?"

"Because you always try to get into my pants any moment we're alone."

"Really? I was thinking that Esposito installed cameras or something and enjoys blocking me every chance he can."

"There's that too." Kate said as she stretched back and picked up her phone. "Beckett. Hi, Esposito. Yes, this is a bad time."

"See? He does it on purpose. He _knows_." She waved at him to shut up so he moved off her, fell into the chair across from the couch and worked on buttoning his shirt again while listening.

"Woah, slow down, Esposito. What? So it's an ouija board... oh. I see. Okay, we'll be there in like thirty minutes. No, I can't get there any faster so huddle up to Ryan if you're so creeped out. You're right; I will be if I get scared. Just hang out there." Kate hung the phone up and turned her eyes to Rick who just about bounced out of his chair when he heard the word Ouija. "No. Not a word."

"What, why? Come on, it's almost Halloween and we have a vic who was killed by an Ouija board. How can I not comment on that?"

"They weren't killed _by_ the board, Castle."

"Okay, they were killed by the ghosts they called. To be honest I'd have liked it more if the board itself killed someone. Not that I want someone dead... I just-"

"Stop. Just stop before I have to hurt you."

"So, ghosts are our first suspects, right?"

She glared which just made him grin more. Since they started to date he found he enjoyed pushing her buttons even more, though as the months went on he found which ones were okay to push and which ones he needed to steer clear of. That was part of the fun. "There's no such thing as ghosts, Rick."

"Umbrella Man."

"Shh, we agreed-" Her eyes went wide at the name. It was one of the few things that Rick ever found that seemed to unnerve her. They had talked about all that happened that fall and still they couldn't come up with an explanation as to what exactly caused the craziness. They also couldn't find Faust Weyer or Weyer Faust in any database, and no social security, education or address seemed to be on file. They finally gave up months ago, but it still lingered in the back of their minds like a bad nightmare. "Don't bring that into this."

"Hey, you're the one not looking at facts. There are ghosts out there."

She stood and crossed her arms, stared death his way. "There are no ghosts. There are no demons, werewolves, vampires or witches... in the sense of being supernatural, I mean. We went through this already. The whole Weyer thing was just some crazy guy that probably drugged us somehow in the interrogation room."

"He's The Scarecrow now? Well, Batgirl, how do you explain the nightmares afterwards? The waking dreams? The whole thing here at the party? He wasn't around us before those things happened."

"I'm not getting into this again, Rick. Drop it." She said as she did the middle button of her shirt and walked back toward his room, the bottom flaps of the shirt draping behind her. "There are no ghosts." She called once she was out of the room and Rick got up, followed her.

He found her standing at the closet from which she pulled a long sleeved purple shirt and a pair of jeans and draped them over her arm. When she turned around she jumped slightly and then let out a breath. "Don't do that."

"Do what?" He asked. She ignored the question and put the clothes on the bed before heading into the bathroom. The water sounded and he waited until she came back out, wearing nothing but her underwear. "Kate, I'm sorry."

"No you're not." She said and picked up her clothes. The darkness in her tone told him that their blow out may be closer than he expected. She went to the bathroom without another look at him and closed the door with a quick snap that made him flinch. He bit out a curse, walked to the door and after a moment of debating he went to open it. She locked it.

He gave another curse and went to the nightstand. He picked up her badge cover that sat on top and pulled out her ID. Using it he disengaged the door latch and walked in. Kate was already in the shower, her body a tan blur behind the iced glass. She had her back to him as she soaped her arms. She must have sensed him because she looked over her shoulder and he could imagine the dark stare she gave him. "Get out, Castle."

"Look, I know you don't want to believe in ghosts and all that. I get it. I'm sorry I brought it up, I just didn't expect you to get so annoyed. I won't mention ghosts or anything supernatural again, if that would help." He watched the blur of her bend down, pick up something from the floor and then she tossed her head back, her fingers straining her hair.

"It's not that." She said and he almost didn't hear it over the torrent of water.

"Then what, Kate?"

"I don't like most of the memories it brings back. I don't..." She sighed, opened the door to the shower a bit and stuck her head out, gave him a frown framed by shampoo suds that slicked her hair. "I don't want to remember those dreams, Rick. Can you understand that? I deal with death all the time, but I can't deal-I don't want to deal with remembering you dead."

"Kate..."

"I know, it's stupid and I keep telling myself that, but I can't help it. I think about those dreams a lot now. Every time we go out on a case I wonder: is this going to be it? Am I going to round the corner and is he going to be lying there?"

"It was a year ago, Kate."

"So you don't worry?" There was no anger behind the words, just bewilderment.

"Are you kidding? I worry myself sick all the time, but that's the nature of your line of work. I'm just glad I can be there to help out if I can; it's what keeps me sane. I remember those dreams too, Kate. I don't like them anymore than you do, but they were dreams, just something from our heads. I've always worried about you and that's where the dream came from."

She ducked back into the shower, rinsed out her hair and then shut the water off. She stepped out, dripping and reached for a towel that hung on the wall. "I thought it was Weyer that caused them."

Rick shrugged as he walked to her, placed his hands on the towel around her shoulders and rubbed her arms. "I think he did on some level. But it doesn't matter, that was a long time ago, and hey, it did bring us together." He bent to kiss her and she turned her head up to meet him. They stood there until she began to shiver from the air and he broke away, met her eyes which danced with his. "Let's go solve a murder, huh?"

She smiled and moved past him to her clothes. She dressed quickly, and Rick couldn't help but watch. "It's strange... it's already been a year since he pushed us together. I don't like him at all, but I feel like we owe him somehow."

"Really? I sure as hell don't after the crap he put us through. My head still hurts when I think back on it all. I have no idea what was actually real or what was all in my head."

Kate pulled her shirt on and stopped at the mirror, combed her hair with her fingers. "Probably most of it. It would explain the strangeness."

"You're so mean to me." Rick said with a laugh and saw her grin at the mirror.

"Only because it keeps your big head from floating away."

"Which I am so very appreciative of. What was Esposito's issue on the phone? He scared of something?"

Kate turned, picked up her towel from the floor and hung it over the bar on the wall while she talked, "I don't know, he was just acting weird, like something scared him. I told him to huddle with Ryan and he shot back saying that was what I would do with you when I saw what he was seeing. He wouldn't give me any more information than that, just that we have three dead."

"I'm always open for a huddle, or a cuddle, which ever you prefer."

"I know, and I love that about you. Come on." She said with a small wink and left the bathroom.

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><p>As always a special thanks to ChrisS for beta reading this!<p> 


	2. I Am Not There

**A/N:**

_Xonze stepped into his office to find it a little more empty than he expected. Many of his readers were there and they looked a little worried. He gave them a smile, placed his hat on the coat rack by his door and came into the room proper, carrying a paper bag. _

_"Evening," he said with a pleasant smile. His readers nodded back, mumbled things to him that he couldn't quite understand. Yes, they were a little worried. "So, I see you're still here, but why wouldn't you be? The first chapter is always sweet… safe. From here on out, not so much."_

_Xonze dropped the bag on the desk with a thud and grinned when a few of his readers jumped. "We're getting into the meat now. The nightmare is just about to begin, and we have a new friend joining us in this chapter. I do hope you enjoy."_

_He sat down at his desk, opened his laptop and hit the post button for the story. "It's still raining out, just a warning. Martin will have your umbrella's ready for when you leave. Don't worry, just because he has an umbrella doesn't make him evil. Well, not completely."_

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

**I Am Not There**

Kate parked the car on the outskirts of the police line that cut off the sidewalk in front of a row of houses. The townhouse was larger than she expected and in good shape: new paint on the front porch, new siding on the sides of the house, new windows. Knowing there were three bodies inside somehow made it ugly.

She turned the car off and glanced at Rick who had his gaze out the window. She hated that she got so annoyed at him before. They fought like any couple... well maybe more than most. Their personalities were at odds with each other most of the time and yet, they were connected on a different level than just opinions and tempers. Her could defuse her anger like water on a match, and she had a way of bringing him around when things were more serious. It could be a struggle at times.

But completely worth it.

"Ready?" She asked him and he turned to look at her. Those blue eyes could still steal her breath and mind away and to finish it off he gave her a grin which made her stomach shift pleasantly.

"Waiting on you, darling."

She shook her head, fighting a smile. "Leave the darlings in the car, Castle."

"Yes, ma'am." He said and popped the door open. She mirrored him and got out into the cool October twilight. A wind greeted her with a quick press of cold to her cheeks and caught her hair as it went by, pulling it into her face. She shivered despite the fall leather jacket she had pulled tight around her. Leaves rustled along the road and bare branches of tress on the sidewalk danced and rattled, the sounds of fall. She use to hate this time of year, but it began to grow on her.

She rounded the car and met Rick on the sidewalk and together they ducked under the police tape and met one of the uniforms who stood guard at the door. He smiled at her, nodded to Rick and then handed her a pen, held out the logbook.

"Evening, Detective. Castle."

"Been inside yet, Davidson?" Rick asked and Kate saw him glance up at the windows as she signed her name and his on the blank line. She let her gaze wander over the list as they talked.

"No, got here and was told to guard the door. Detectives Ryan and Esposito are already up there and I think the M.E. is as well, I just took over the logbook though, so there may be others."

"Good, least we won't have to wait ar-" The words stopped in Kate's throat as her eyes hit upon a name on the logbook. She felt her entire body tense. "Rick..." she said breathlessly and he moved in next to her.

"What? What's wrong?" He stared over her shoulder and she said a small prayer that she was just seeing things, that the name wasn't there. "Are you kidding?"

No such luck. She stood back, stared at Davidson who seemed awfully confused. He looked at the logbook and then met her eyes again. "Something wrong, Detective?"

"Davidson, two lines up from where I signed... what name is there?" Please, she thought as he flipped the logbook around. Please let it just be her imagination.

"Uh... Faust Weyer? I don't recognize the name. Do you?"

"Yes." She said flatly and placed a hand to her forehead. This was not happening. Why was his name there? Didn't he already cause enough trouble for them? It wasn't as if her and Rick broke up. So what the hell could he want?

"I'm sorry, Detective. I didn't have the book at the time."

"Who did?" She asked and saw him gulp.

"Officer Brim, I think. I could... find out."

"Do that. Get back to me." She pushed past him and made her way into the front room of the town house. Halloween had come to the home in pumpkins, cobwebs, and thin scarecrows with blinking lights. All the things to make a house a dark, spooky place. She glanced around, noticed the TV in the corner was on. A horror movie played which showed a young woman being chased through what looked like tunnels that reminded Kate of a sewer. The monster was off screen but easily heard in rumbling growls. She turned from it and searched out the rest of room.

A number of uniforms were milling about in the living room, dining room and kitchen. A man and a woman were seated in chairs with large mugs in their hands, two uniforms on either side talking to them. The parents, Kate thought with a sigh, they'd never be the same. How could they? She didn't want to believe it either when Esposito called, she didn't want to believe that three teens at a sleepover were killed in their home. There was some kind of sickness there, above and beyond the normal gut wrenching. She couldn't bring herself to tell Rick all the details before... he'd see it soon enough.

The only good thing so far, in Kate's mind, was that there'd been no sign of the man with the umbrella that still haunted her dreams. If she was lucky he wouldn't appear anytime soon, but she knew that the odds of that not happening were slim. She ran a hand through her hair and locked her eyes on another uniform who froze in place.

"Crime scene?"

"Uh, up the stairs, make a right and you'll see the ladder to the attic. Everyone is up there, I believe."

"Thanks," she said and turned to Rick, waved for him to follow. He didn't notice as he was mesmerized by a dancing scarecrow on the mantel. She snapped her fingers finally and he turned with a start. "Hey, pay attention."

"Sorry... was just thinking about decorations for the halloween party."

"Now? Why of all times were you thinking about that?"

"I dunno. You know me, my mind tends to rapid fire things at me, no matter what else is going on."

"Well, dodge the new ideas until we get out of here. Come on, they're in the attic." She said and took to the stairs. The lights were dim in the hallway as one bulb presided over it and seemed to be on its last legs. It flickered orange light over the uniforms and CSU guys, made their shadows dance on the walls like they had minds of their own. Why did everything get creepy in the fall?

She weaved her way through them, made a right and came face to face with a ladder and a large square of light on the floor in front of her.

She looked up into the attic, found bare trusses above her and a single bulb that hung from one of the beams, a couple of moths dancing around it. A cold shift of air came in waves from the square opening. Like a rolling fog, it washed over her and made her squint as the chill scratched across her skin.

"Oh... this just keeps getting better and better. What do you think the odds are that we find a masked killer hiding in the vents?" The excitement in his voice annoyed her, and at the same time made a pang of terror hit. She hoped there wouldn't be any masked men upstairs. Things were creepy enough as it was.

"I dunno, Rick, probably fifty-fifty."

"That was my guess too." She shot him a disbelieving look and then started up the steps without a word. It wouldn't change anything if she did make a remark about how odd he was being. She had come to love and brush off those things about him. "Must say, we should go into more attics."

She stopped halfway up and turned to look down at him. "Why?"

"I like the view?" He grinned and she took a foot, swung gently at his head and he dodged it. "Sorry, just couldn't help it."

"You seem to have that problem a lot. Stop staring and hurry up." She stepped out onto the plywood that made up the floor and searched the room, looking for any sign of Weyer. She couldn't shake the inkling that he was somewhere, watching what she and Rick where doing.

There were three standing lights set up in a triangle around where the bodies laid. On the outskirts of the light circles she found her two detectives. Esposito stood far back, almost hitting his head on the rafters above, and Ryan stood only a few inches in front of him. They were acting like little kids, she thought and made her way over to them.

"Hey, Beckett." Ryan said with a quick look over, once their eyes met he went back to staring at the crime scene. Esposito just nodded at her, his lips thin and his arms crossed in front of him.

"Well, you two aren't cuddled up in a corner so I guess that's something. What do we have?"

"Three teens dead, one male, two females. They're... pretty cut up but we haven't found a weapon quite yet. We're waiting on Perlmutter for the official cause, but I think you could take a pretty good guess." Ryan said and Esposito nodded along.

"Davidson said the ME was already here."

The two looked between each other and Esposito spoke up. "Me and Ryan have been here since the uniforms called it in. Perlmutter was called a few minutes after. He's got another body over on East 5th which is tying him up and Lanie is at a conference for the next couple of days."

"Bet you're heart broken about that," Rick said and Esposito just shrugged.

"Okay, Esposito go wait at the stairs for Perlmutter, I don't want him down there berating the uniforms any longer than he has to." The look of relief that washed over Esposito's face was like that of a condemned criminal getting his death sentence suspended.

Death Sentence.

Kate closed her eyes slightly at the thought and the memory that followed. She could see it all vividly, like it happened only yesterday. A dream shouldn't linger for so long. She could still hear Weyer's words. She killed Rick.

She chased the feelings back and locked them away before she opened her eyes to find Rick a few inches away with a look of concern. "You all right?"

"Fine. Ryan, what's with Esposito?"

Ryan gave a frown as he stared at the hole that lead out of the attic. "He didn't really tell me, but it's something with the board. I guess he might have had a bad experience at some point. He's a bit superstitious sometimes."

"Esposito?" Rick asked.

"All cops are a little. Don't mess with things you don't understand. I've stuck to that. So has he."

"Good advice." Rick said with a nod and then turned to look at the circled bodies. Kate did so as well and moved in front of him, going into detective mode the moment her eyes landed on the two girls. She stopped at the threshold of light and bent down, looked them over. They were so young, she thought, much too young for their lives to be taken already.

"We have IDs?"

"The guy is Samuel Watson. The girl who lives here is Sandra Pike and the other girl is the neighbor's, Kelly Wolf. Parents found them like this when they came up to tell them to keep it down as I guess they were being too loud when they died."

Kate nodded and turned her attention to the board between them. The bodies still sat crossed legged at the edges of it. "They didn't even move."

"Doesn't seem like it. But how? The other two would have seen the first one being killed. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't hang around to see how it ended." Rick said from behind her.

"I'd be gone too. Maybe drugged?"

"I don't even see alcohol around here, just Doritos, what looks like an empty pizza box, and a lot of empty soda cans. If they were drugged it would be in the food wouldn't it? That's a pretty out there guess, they're just kids."

"It's the only thing that would make sense."

"Not the only thing-"

"The only real thing, Rick." She stood and brushed her hands on her pants and took a deep breath before breaking the threshold of light. The world behind her disappeared in the glare and she was alone with the three bodies and the board. She got a good look at what someone did to them and wished she hadn't. Gashes had been made along each of their throats and the blood splashed down over their chests, stained their shirts in crimson. There were hundreds of tiny cuts along their arms and across their pants, cutting deep into the skin.

It wasn't the worst thing she ever dealt with, but it ranked up there on her list. She had to close her eyes, will away the image that tried to bore a hole into her memory. When she opened them again she cursed.

The light was the only thing she could still see. The world on the other side became a hazy black that reminded her of images of space, just an endless night. The bodies left as well with only the board from before. It laid at her feet, its planchette facing her. She sighed out a breath which clouded before her and knelt down.

"Weyer? You here?" She called and couldn't quite keep the shake from her voice. Nothing answered her. The aloneness was almost overwhelming. Last time Weyer came right out, told her exactly what was going on. This was just strange.

She jumped back, fell on her elbows, when a scratching noise echoed all around her. Her heart slammed into her chest and her eyes searched out everything around her in panic. She found the source quickly enough, the planchette was sliding across the board in rapid movements. I - a - m. She lost track of it after that and sat up so she could try to follow it.

"I am... n...not...t..here. I am not there." She squinted at the words and turned her eyes up. "Who isn't here?"

She looked back to the board for an answer but before it could the board cracked into a hundred pieces and parted like a jigsaw puzzle. The planchette went flying and disappeared into the darkness.

"Well, this is a new one." Kate got to her feet at the sound of the voice. It was a guttural sound, like who ever spoke gurgled rocks instead of mouthwash every morning. "Strange that he would try to talk to you here. He knows better than that."

"Who the hell are you?" Kate called. She didn't want to deal with this crap again. Things were finally going well, there was no need for this.

"There is always a need, always a test. It's what makes life so entertaining." From the darkness a cherry red light flared. A cigarette? She first thought Weyer had just been messing with her but when the owner of the voice stepped into the light she actually let a small scream escape her.

From the darkness came an impossibly thin, tall man. His legs were like spindles, his arms merely twigs that hung down past his knees. His torso was little more than a triangle and the head-the face-looked as if someone took skin and just stretched it over top, making features almost nonexistent. He reminded her greatly of Jack Skellington, just a poorly made, exceedingly creepy knock off. "So, you are the one that father had been talking with."

She shifted away from him when he bent down and offered a three fingered hand. "I am pleased to met you, Katherine."

"Get away." The strong part of her tried to hold the rest of her together as every other part wanted to flee in separate directions. She scooted herself back and then stood, her entire body shaking as she stared at the thing that called her by name.

"I'm sorry... I must look quite disturbing to you. I do apologize." He said and crossed his legs as he sat down. Even then, he was almost as tall as her. "Sadly, there is nothing I can do about that, as I am who I am, just like you are who you are. Just as Richard is who he is."

"What does Rick have to do with this?" Kate asked, feeling anger replace fear. "What the hell do you want?"

"Me? I want nothing, other than to make you acquaintance. That was why I set up this little..." His boney hand made a circle as he seemed to search for the right word. Kate stared at him as she tried to figure out how exactly he was talking so clearly. "Stage? Let's go with that. Father mentioned so much about you that I just had to see for myself. He's such a sap for you people, though. He thinks he's Cupid sometimes, I bet. Master matchmaker. Would you agree with that statement?"

"I wouldn't agree with anything. I want to go back, now. Who the hell are you?"

"Well, like my father, I take on names I like. You maybe could call me Thin Man, after that book you seem so fond of." He stood and reached out, took her hand with speed that he shouldn't have had and bought it to where his lips would have been. His skin felt like soggy paper and made her stomach clench. "I'll take my leave of you, but I'm sure we'll see each other again. I have a few things I want to know about you two. The stories father told... it's hard to imagine they're in anyway true, but we'll find out, won't we?"

"Stay away from me, from Rick. We don't want anymore 'help' from you or Weyer."

"Well, that's just unkind, turning down offered help. Oh well. We'll see how things go." He bowed in a gentleman-like way and looked up at her at the end of the bend. "Until we meet again, Katherine."

His hand shot out again, caught her by the chin and gave it a violent twist that sent a shock of pain along her neck. She stumbled over and could only see the white of the lights for a moment. "See you soon, Katherine, or is it Kate? Such a lovely name, Kate-"

"KATE!" She staggered as a hand clamped on her arm and she fell backwards, landed on something soft. She opened her eyes to find the ceiling of the attic above her and beneath her the familiar form of Rick, his hands around her waist, his mouth next to her ear. She suddenly felt safe, felt relieved. "Kate... please tell me you're awake."

"Rick..." She reached down, touched his hands, took them in hers and squeezed. "What the hell happened?"

"That's what I would like to know. You stepped into the light and then suddenly you get up and make a dash for the window. I thought you were going to jump."

"It happened again." His hands tensed in hers and she heard a sharp intake of breath from him.

"Umbrella Man?"

"No. I'll explain later." She said when footsteps rushed toward them. She turned to see Esposito and Ryan standing over her, concern playing on their faces. Perlmutter stood back a little bit, but even he seemed a little worried, an emotion she'd never seen on him before.

"You all right, Beckett?" Esposito asked and bent down beside her.

"I'm all right. I'm fine." Kate pulled herself from Rick's hold and got to her feet. She turned around and helped Rick back up and then looked to the three others. "Well? Let's get back to work. Perlmutter, I want the tox on the bodies ASAP."

"Sure, I'll just go ask real nicely for the lab to clear its backlog for you."

"You will if you don't want me coming down to bother you every hour, on the hour."

He grumbled and walked toward the bodies. "I'll see what I can do."

She couldn't care that he was pissed, there were to many things bouncing around in her head already. To make it worse Rick was watching her closely and while she was glad that he worried and cared about her, right now all it did was annoy. She ignored him the best she could, especially when he reached for her. She stepped away from him because, for the moment, she didn't want to be touched.

"Ryan, lets go talk to the parents." It was a formality, she thought when Ryan nodded and led her down the ladder. If what happened to her was like a year ago, then this... Thin Man, had set it up. How the hell could she solve a case like this?

* * *

><p>As always, ChrisS took my crappy draft and made it better. :D<p> 


	3. You Could End Up Dead

**A/N: **

_"So, the nightmares begin." Xonze said as he put the final touches to the last chapter. "They both are starting down the rabbit hole and it seems Umbrella Man and his son are the ones digging it."_

_His readers all frowned at him as he spoke and he offered a smile. "Come now, things aren't all bad. We go through trails to make ourselves better, don't we? Anyway. I must take your leave for a while yet as it seems there has been a Scarecrow uprising in the North fields. Something about wet hay and needing new sticks. A tip for all of you, don't bring inanimate objects to life… they're so damn needy."_

_Xonze stood as he closed his laptop lid and walked to the coat rack, removed his jacket and hat. "I wish you all to enjoy your stay. Martin will still be around if you need anything." He went to leave and then paused, turned around with a flourish of his coat. "Oh, and don't touch that bag on the desk."_

_With that he went out the door, knowing that they would all worry about the bag more than what horrors they read about._

* * *

><p>Chapter 3<p>

**You Could End Up Dead**

She said she'd explained, and Rick believed her, but that didn't mean it wasn't tearing him up inside. He knew how much she hated those nightmares, those visions. He knew because he knew almost everything there was to know about her now. He knew most of it before, but in a year a lot of secrets, a lot of the unknown about a person comes out. He also knew because he felt the same way. He couldn't help the anger that welled up inside him at the thought that they were going through this again. That something... some creature had sought fit to bring their will into their lives.

He watched her go down the ladder, shared a glance with Esposito and then followed her. He wouldn't push, at least not yet. There was a time he would have picked until she gave in, but he'd learned that usually she'd come to him and tell him the things that were bothering her. If she didn't? Well, he could still get information out of her better than she could get out of some criminal, which was saying something. He'd wait until after the interview... if she didn't come to him to talk, he'd go to her.

She went to the two parents who still were seated and he stood back, watched her. She looked uneasy even while she tried to keep command of her features and voice. Over the last year he saw her in so many emotions that he could tell when something shook her. She looked worse than shaken now. She was worried, scared. He hated seeing her like that.

"I'm Detective Kate Beckett. I'm so sorry for your loss." And so the interview began, she kept it short, clipped but not uncaring. Rick found he couldn't pay much attention to what was being said because his own worry took over his thoughts as he watched her struggle. She'd explain to him before they left, he decided, even if she got pissed at him. She wasn't about to go through this stuff again, alone. They were partners now, one unit and he'd be damned if he'd let anything get between that, even fear.

"Castle?" He looked up in surprise and found Ryan beside him. "You all right?"

"I'm okay... Just keeping an eye on Beckett."

"Yeah, what was that about? It was like she was in a trance or something."

"Or something. Can you do me a favor?"

"I'll keep an eye on her," he said and gave a frown as Kate stood. "But it would be good to know what to look out for and what could be causing it. Is she sick?"

Rick shook his head. "No, but something is bothering her. I'll try to find out what, but just in case, if you're out with her, pay attention."

"Always do. Don't worry, she might just be stressed over the kids... I know I am."

Rick nodded. It would be nice if that was all it was, but what she said didn't match up with it. It wasn't Umbrella Man, but something happened in that same vein. "Thanks."

The interview ended and Kate stood up, walked over to one of the uniforms and spoke quickly to him. Rick couldn't hear her words but he could see the complete compliance of the uniform. He nodded and looked obviously relieved when she left him. She walked with her head down, making her way to the door out of the house. She came up short when she found Rick in front of her.

"We need to talk." He said as he met her gaze.

"Not now, I got stuff that needs-Hey!" He gripped her arm, took her outside because inside was no place to have the talk that he wanted. They stepped out onto the stoop and Rick reached behind her, shut the door. Davidson moved away and down to the sidewalk with only one glance to Rick.

"Tell me."

"I will. Later." Kate said as she pulled her arm free. "Don't push me, Castle."

"I will when something is bothering you, Beckett. What was it? What happened up there?" The anger in his voice surprised even him. He felt a pang of guilt when her eyes softened, when her body went slightly lax and she leaned back on the doorframe. He reached out, touched her face and she moved into it. "I'm sorry... please, tell me."

"It wasn't Weyer, or the Umbrella man, or whatever the hell he's called."

"But it was a dream-or vision again." She nodded and then moved forward, wrapped her arms around him. "If it wasn't Weyer..."

"Worse than him it felt like. He told me he was called Thin Man, or something like that. He-He referred to Weyer as his father."

"Like father like son?" Rick said and she nodded against him. "What the hell is their issue with us?"

"I don't know, Rick. He said he did... all that," she nodded toward the building, "so that he could meet me. Meet us."

Rick laid back against the door, brought her with him and stared up at the cloud filled night, let out a breath. "I want to meet him."

"What?"

"I'm going upstairs and I'm going to do the same thing you did." Rick said as he released her and turned to open the door. She could take care of herself, he knew that, but if this Thin Man wanted to met her then he could met Rick as well. He opened the door halfway before Kate had him wrapped up in a painful arm-hold. No one around them seemed to notice, or rather, Rick guessed, they didn't want to get on Kate's bad side. He didn't blame them.

"No you're not."

"Kate, let go."

"Not until you promise me you won't go near that thing up there." She twisted and he gave a small cry out. "Promise."

"No." She twisted more, pain shot through his shoulder and up his neck.

"I'll pop your shoulder if you don't."

"I think I'll live." He said and felt her grip loosen. He called her bluff, but for a moment there he wasn't sure if she didn't mean it.

"Rick, please, for me. I'm asking you not to go up there."

He narrowed his eyes at her and she dropped hers, something she never did before. He waited a beat but she didn't look up again and finally he couldn't take it anymore and reached out, touched her chin. "I won't touch anything. I just want to see it again."

"Why?" The word came out as barely a whisper and her eyes shifted toward the door. "He just wanted to meet me. We're together, that had been Weyer's whole goal, hadn't it?"

"I don't know what his goal was, we know nothing about him, and now his son shows up? I don't like it Kate, and I know you feel it's wrong too. You're not facing this alone, got me? You don't clam up on me, if this happens again you need to tell me and I'll do the same for you."

She gave a nod, crossed her arms over her chest. "Then I'm going up with you."

"You sure that's a goo-?"

"I'm going so I can make sure you don't do anything stupid."

He shrugged, knowing that nothing he said would change her mind. He never could. "All right, but stay back a little."

They turned and went back inside. The uniforms who were by the window quickly shifted around, became very interested in a painting of a ship on the wall that seemed about to sink into pitch colored water. They began to talk quickly about the case and something about the painting being a clue. They needed to work on their eavesdropping, Rick thought with a small smile and headed for the stairs.

The hall laid empty and the bulb at the top of the steps shone a little less bright now that there was no one to light save for a moth that dashed around it. It was strange to think of the bulb as alive, but as they neared its orange glow seemed to deepen somewhat, and a buzzing noise came right after, like it struggled to fight with the darkness. Something in the back of Rick's head clicked into place and he began to pay a bit more attention to everything around him as the feeling of being watched crept up his spine.

He made the turn in the hall and paused. Between the rungs he could see something standing in the doorway at the end of the hall, just a shadow that somehow stood out from the blackness of the room behind it. His mouth went dry and he reached back, touched Kate which stopped her. "See that?"

"What?" She moved up beside him. "I don't see anything."

Rick blinked finally and when he looked back the long shadow was gone. Was he just seeing things now? Maybe Kate's story had spooked him, he thought. He pushed the image away and started up the ladder, kept his eyes toward the light above him.

The attic was empty now. The bodies still laid on the floor as if no one had touched them and Rick furrowed his brow in confusion. Perlmutter should have at least cleared the scene a bit, had the bodies on bags. He should have still been there, but he was no where to be seen.

"Kate, did we miss Perlmutter?" Rick asked and turned to look down the hole and into the darkness below. Kate was no longer there, instead a white face stared up at him from the darkness, only mere inches away from the entrance and it didn't stand on the ladder.

"Richard." It said to him. Rick gave a small squeak and staggered backwards as a long arm reached up for him. It only made it part of the way before the trap door slammed shut and the hand disappeared under the piece of hinged plywood.

"Kids these days, don't know when the hell to stay out of things. Evening, Richard." From the darkness came Weyer, a cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth. He looked more haggard than usual which to Rick was something he hadn't imagined possible. He still carried an umbrella, but not his fedora.

"Yes, I'm not doing too well as of late." He said with a shrug. "Family troubles, you understand."

"No, actually I don't. Where's Kate?"

Weyer came forward, went to the other side of the attic and picked up a chair. He came back with it, placed it before Rick and sat down with a leg crossed over a knee. "Not here, I wanted to talk to you as it seemed he," he pointed with his cigarette at the trap door, "has already spoken to Katherine and probably spooked her some."

"That's putting it mildly, I'd think."

"I apologize, obviously. I do want to congratulate you two, you both seem to be doing swimmingly in the relationship even with a few rough patches. I figured I'd have to come back a couple of times, but so far..."

"Then if we're doing so well what the hell are you doing here?"

"To warn you." He took a drag from the cigarette and puffed smoke out in the shape of a hollow circle. "My son is brash, a bit like his mother. I told him about what I do, about my greatest enjoyment, which is obviously you and Katherine. He, being the curious sort, sought you out to see if I was telling the truth and to do his own... deductions."

"Well, call him off, we've had enough of this crap. I'm sick of it, just let us be."

"I wish it was so simple, Richard, I do, but I can't stop him. He's got a will of his own and what kind of father would I be if I stopped my son from doing the same thing I had done? It's good experience."

"Just what the hell are you?"

He grinned and stared at the cigarette between his fingers. "I had thought you figured that out already, Richard. Well, there is still time. I will warn you, stay close to Katherine. If you love her do not let her alone. My son has targeted her first. Why? I don't quite know. I find it more fun to get my message to both of my... students. He's young though, he'll learn."

"I swear if he hurts her in an-"

"You'll want to kill him, and I would not blame you. I don't think he will, but... we all make mistakes when we're young."

"Tell me where Kate is."

"She's... oh, that little scamp," Weyer smiled like a proud parent and Rick moved toward him, his fist tight and his arm itched to punch him. "It seems he has her now. Moving much faster than I had. Oh well, patience isn't known in the young."

"Get her away from him."

"As I said, I can't." Rick stepped forward again. "Hitting me will change nothing, though if it would make you feel better... try not to break my nose."

"I'll break everything if you don't get her out of there."

"For a writer you don't seem to understand the words 'I can't' very well."

"Then send me to her. Let me help her."

Weyer sat back and dropped the cigarette onto the attic floor, snubbed it out with his foot before he rubbed at his chin and his eyes went distant. "Well, that would be an interesting twist. He'll be angry, but it's not breaking any rules."

"Rules? What rules?" Rick asked with a bit of disbelief. Was this all a goddamn game? Weyer waved him off.

"Yes, I think I could do that." He turned back to Rick again. "Very well, I can get you into the same realm as her, not much trouble I don't think. But you'll be in danger there, Richard. Jumping realms puts your real body at risk for the very fact that the mind can't be in three places at once. You could end up dead."

"It's worth the risk."

"Well, just hold your horses, son. Think about it for a moment. It's your life on the line here."

"It's not just my life anymore. Get me to Kate, Weyer. Now."

"Good man, that's what I like to hear, enthusiasm to help the ones we love is rare these days. Follow me." Weyer stood with the help of his umbrella which he used as a cane and staggered out of the circle of light and into the darkness. Rick hesitated for a moment and tried to find him again, but Weyer was gone. "Don't dawdle my boy, come along. Follow my voice."

Rick steeled himself the best he could and stepped out of the comfort of the light and into the darkness. On the other side was the attic as it had been before, but the bodies were missing, the lights gone and only a warm orange glow seemed to linger in the air. Weyer walked to where the bodies had been and stopped at the edge of an old, long wood board.

"I had used this to try to warn Katherine because I feared for her. I don't know how well it worked." He bent down and picked the board up. "These things are gateways, Richard, always have been. There are other items out there that have the same type of power, but I tend to like the old fashion ones... even if they are manufactured by a toy company. People don't quite realize what they're bringing into their homes when they get these boards for gifts. More kids have been possessed using these things than you'd ever imagine."

"Doesn't seem like they're needed, sometimes the evil just finds you."

"You still consider me evil? After all I did for you, after how it all turned out? Well, that's disappointing. I can't blame you really for it, but I had hoped..." He shifted his shoulders sadly and held the board out. "Touch it."

"What will happen?"

"It'll take you to Katherine."

* * *

><p>As always a great big thanks to ChrisS for her beta reading. Also, I tried to post this yesterday, but the site was having trouble. Sorry for the wait.<p> 


	4. No Metaphor Here, Dollface

**A/N:**

_Xonze entered the room while picking straw from his jacket. The Scarecrows had rushed him as soon as he stepped foot in the field. His clothes were muddy and grass stained, his face marred by scrapes and a black eye. Who knew a bunch of hay and old clothes could pack such a punch?_

_"Welcome back," he said to his readers as he shook out his sleeves. His fingers sported bandages and he flexed them as he rounded his desk. "I see the last chapter didn't keep you all away. This one just might."_

_His readers all glared at him._

_"And that's the reaction I expected… which is why I've had Martin getting my panic room ready, just in case. Anyway, I'll let you get to what you came here for. If you need me… I won't be around."_

_He hit the post button and then dashed from the room, papers flying in his wake._

* * *

><p>Chapter 4<p>

**No Metaphor Here, Dollface**

Rick disappeared. She followed him up the ladder with her eyes, watched his legs slip behind the ceiling and then he was gone. Her heart slammed into her chest and fear gripped the rest of her. She rushed forward, took the ladder steps two at a time and tumbled into the attic.

Instead of wood her shoulder found cold stone. Instead of the musky smell there came the distinct smell of mold, of a place wet ninety percent of the time. She pushed herself up on her hands and just stared, mouth agape. The walls around her were stone, moss covered and water stained. She laid in what looked like a mixture of rotting leaves and something brown that she didn't want to think about.

She stood quickly, slipped, but kept her balance and looked back at the way she'd entered. In place of the trapdoor that she expected now sat a large metal grate. She could still see the hallway, the faded square of orange light from the lamp at the top of the stairs.

"Hello again, Katherine." The voice came from below and she staggered forward, bent down. The square of light was sliced in half by a long shadow that seemed to crawl up the walls and then it began to shrink until Thin Man appeared. He paused at the corner, looked up and canted his head. "It seems like only minutes ago we had just chatted, and here you are again. Alone."

"What did you do with Rick?"

"Me?" Thin Man walked forward, stared up at her through the grate. His pale face stood out in the gloom like a clouded bulb. "Why, dear, do you assume I had anything to do with him missing?"

"Because you bastards are always starting this crap. Let me go."

"Darling, you are always free to go. What you have to do is really quite simple."

"Then tell me so I can go back to work." She snarled. Fear and worry mixed with anger inside her, creating an explosive mixture. She wanted to go home, wanted to get back to work. Wanted to be with Rick.

He looked down for a moment and paced. He made it to the end of the hall before he turned back, stared at her and if he had a mouth she was sure it would be smiling. "Give up on Richard."

"Wha-" Of all the things she expected that wasn't even in the ballpark of her mind. "What the hell do you mean?"

"Break up with Richard, Katherine. I didn't think it was all that hard to understand. If you want to leave, want to go home then just break up with him and we'll go our separate ways and you shall never see me again."

"Why the hell would I do that?"

He chuckled, a sound that went through her like a chilled gust of wind. "Why indeed. If you don't, however, then you must get to him. Find him there in the maze, my dear, and that'll be one step closer to our parting."

She reached down to her holster and pulled her pistol, pointed it down at him. He laughed fully this time, a gut retching thrum. It didn't even sound like a laugh to Kate. "Really now, a pistol? Tut-tut, Katherine."

The gun felt heavy in her hands and she found it hard to aim the longer she held it on him. She squeezed the trigger when she put the iron sights over his head. The gunshot echoed in the tunnel at an almost painful level. The bullet never found its mark however, not for being badly aimed, but because it winged off the empty space between the bars and buried itself into the ceiling, showering Kate with pebbles and dust. She squinted and ducked with a curse.

"Didn't you try that before?" He asked from below her and Kate frowned.

"No, he never gave me the chance."

"Ah... well now I feel bad. Anyway, your answer?"

"Go to hell."

"Well, maybe knowing what you're up against will change your mind." He sat down, leaned back on his long arms, stared up at her. "You see, you are running against something. There is a creature there looking for you, she's not a very nice creature and will try to kill you, which would, obviously, keep you from getting to Richard. But if you wait too long somewhere, Richard will be killed, so it's a bit of a... catch 22 as you people call it. It's mostly impossible, which is why I advise you to just break up with him. You could live easily without Richard, you had for a long time before."

"You know nothing about us." She stood away from the grate and looked down the hall, the brave face she had shown him hung by a thread as she turned to look at the tunnels that went in all kinds of directions. It was a maze of stone and cold. How could she find her way? How could she find Rick in all of this?

Somewhere-not far-but not close either, a roar sounded in a way Kate had never heard before. No creature in the world could have made the sound, she thought. She took a deep, shivering breath. This was her choice, and she had made it. She could find Rick, she decided, even through this maze she could find him. She had to because she needed him.

She took off down the hall, her jacket flapping behind her like a mini cape, her heels clicked so loudly that she kept looking back to make sure she wasn't being follow. Her mind raced along with her feet, her eyes searching out corridors for any type of hint on where she needed to go. She began to turn blindly, trusting her gut to take her where she needed to be. Only once did she come to a dead end and had to back track.

What light there was came down in shafts through more grates, creating splatters of white on the grey floor. Moths danced in the rays as if they were drawn to the light. She stopped under one of the grates just to feel the warmth of light on her skin and to allow the chill to leave her bones.

"Hurry, little Katherine. She's getting close." She looked up as she tried to decide which way to go and found Thin Man above her, his long legs bent so that the shadow he created engulfed her. "Oh, she's quite close now."

Kate turned on her heel and found, in the tunnel she just came from, an image of herself. She had a flash back to the dead her that still haunted her dreams and it seemed this one was almost the same image, through instead of multiple gunshot wounds there was just one, to her chest. It was her if she had not made it through the snipers bullet.

She heard herself scream, but couldn't tell if it came from her throat or from the dead Kate in front of her. She didn't stand to find out and instead took off down the tunnel, made a sharp right. Her lungs burned, her side ached like someone had put a vise to it and began to slowly close it. The footsteps were right behind and she decided to just start making turns and hope for the best.

Skidding around a corner she came face to face with what looked like a dead end. She cursed loudly, turned to leave but then she heard a voice that had become a comfort to her.

"She won't know." The voice said, the sly tone making Kate's muscles tense. "Nothing to worry about my dear. She won't know."

"Rick?" She called and walked back down the dead end hall. She reached the wall, pressed her ear to it and listened.

"Shh, shh. It's fine, you'll be okay when it's all over. She won't know." Kate stepped back, searched for a way across. On her right a thin break in the wall showed, just big enough for her to slip through. She took a breath, let it out and moved forward.

"Yes, I know, but she doesn't have to know... what? Yes, she is a detective, but she won't find out, trust me." Anger was brimming over now. She had to see what he was doing, had to know because right now her mind was racing with all sorts of images, each one worst than the last.

The slit narrowed some, pressing against her to the point of pain, but still she continued, pushing out all the air in her lungs to compress her chest. There was a light at the end of the slit that caused her vision to spin and a smell wafted from it: the smell of blood, fresh too.

"Dammit." She bit out when she came to the end and her shoulder blades scrapped against the hard stone. Jagged rock gouged away skin from her arms, leaving blood to well under a thin layer. She pushed through the pain and fell into a well light hallway. It looked almost like a basement of some sort with its cinder block walls and wooden beams that made up the ceiling. She pushed herself up, shook out her limbs and took in gulps of air to calm her lungs.

When she could breath normally again she leaned against the wall and used it to stabilize herself. She could still hear Rick's voice, though it was lower now, a mumbling sound that made her even more worried.

She walked under the light of buzzing bulbs for what felt like hours. Every once in awhile she could hear her dead self in the dark, possibly looking for her, or for Rick. She tried not to think about it too much, and focused on moving forward, following Rick's voice.

A door appeared in the gloom of the lights and heavy shadows. Made of planks of wood it had three steal bands running from left to right, but even with the support they had begun to pull apart and from the slots white lines of light spilled out onto the cracked floor.

She hurried forward, pulled her weapon from its place at her back without thinking about it. It wouldn't be much use, she thought when she looked down at it, but it felt better going in armed than just walking in and hoping it wasn't some sort of trick.

She pushed up against the wall, training took over and commanded her body into the right positions. She reached out, tried the handle. Unlocked. One less thing to worry about, she thought and twisted the metal handle.

The door squeaked open and the white strips became one solid block that felt painful to her eyes when she rounded the corner and drew her weapon on whatever was on the other side.

When her vision cleared she found herself in a room that reminded her very much of the morgue, she even half expected Lanie to appear from the freezer. But it was also different, a darkness hung in the air and a feeling of something very wrong washed over her so thick that it felt like tar on her skin.

"Beckett?" She turned the gun on the voice and found Rick standing there. He was dressed in what looked like scrubs that were splattered with blood. The clothes didn't register at first, just that it was Rick. She lowered the gun went to run for him, to wrap her arms around him until she noticed the body on the table.

It was one of the girls from the attic. She was still alive, though it looked like she barely hung on. Blood drained from her in clear plastic tubes and Kate felt her stomach drop. She looked back to Rick, took him in as he stood and felt her heart follow her stomach. He was covered in blood, a knife laid at his side in a gloved hand. He gave her a half smile.

"You aren't suppose to be here, Kate." He took a step forward. She took a step back, bringing the gun back up. "What are you doing?"

"What the hell are you doing, Rick? Did Weyer get to you? What are you doing to her?" Her voice shook even while she fought so hard to keep control of it. Rick looked back at the table, the girl on it gave a weak cry which he shushed. He turned back.

"I thought you knew me, Kate."

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, you know this is what fascinates me. Death is such a wonderful subject to study."

Her eyes went wide. "You're killing her."

"Yes, that much is obvious, isn't it?"

She felt her finger squeeze the trigger even while her heart was telling her to do anything but that. This was a misunderstanding, she told herself. This couldn't be what it looked like.

"Come on, Kate. You think I'm just naturally good at catching criminals? I think like them because I've always been one... at least in my head. It was only a matter of time before it came into reality. Plus, it's better than me cheating, isn't it? That's what you thought when you came down here, didn't you?" He turned and laughed, stared up at one of the many lights above him. "You think I would cheat on you, don't you? Well you're right, I would and have."

"No."

"Yes, a few times actually, just can't keep it in my pants."

"No, this isn't right. This can't be right."

"But it is, and you know it is. You've known all along that I could become what I had fought for so long. We all fight our monsters, Kate, but at some point the guards nap, the walls fail and the monsters feast."

"No, goddammit, this isn't you." He walked forward, reached for her and she took a step back and put the gun between herself and him. She felt weak, sick even and there was nothing she could do about it. Rick came forward again, the knife before him.

"It is me, just as it is you. You asked me once, many moons ago, what it was that drew me to death, to the macabre. Do you still want to know?"

"No, I don't... stay away from me, Rick."

"Come on, you were searching for me and found the real me. Why are you so against me now?"

"You're killing her!"

"Just another part of me. Love is suppose to accept everything isn't it?"

"Rick... I can't-I can't deal with this, dammit." She could barely see straight anymore, just everything inside her felt broken, felt missing. This was a nightmare coming true.

She fell back, landed on her butt and the gun clattered next to her. She lost any strength she had and for a moment she wished he would just kill her as well so she didn't have to feel this great pain in her chest. The bullet that did so much damage many months ago didn't compare on any level to the pain she felt now.

"Kate."

"Stay away from me." She tried to jerk away when hands touched her shoulders.

"Kate, it's me, Rick."

"Stop, just stop!" She reached for the pistol, found it beside her and blindly fired. The shot sounded like thousands of birds scattering all around her. The hands fell away, a thump came from behind her and she turned to see what exactly she had done.

The pain became worse. There was a different Rick behind her. She turned quickly back to where the first Rick had been and both he and the body were gone. There was just a spotlight on her now which shimmered along the tile floor.

"Rick?" He wore the same clothes from earlier in the day. He coughed, writhed on the ground, his hand against his chest. Blood pooled around him and through his fingers.

Kate rushed to his side and placed her hands to his face. "Oh God-Rick-oh God. Please, I'm sorry, I didn't know. Rick, stay with me!"

"Kate..." He forced out, reached up with his free hand and stroked her cheek. She reached back, held his hand. This wasn't happening she told herself even as she watched the blood pour from the wound. She couldn't lose him.

She bit back the tears, the pain and took stock of everything. The bullet had hit him in the chest but luck had made it the right rather than the left. Less chance of death, she thought, other than from blood loss. That was her biggest concern. She slipped out of her jacket and laid it beside her.

"Rick, I need to move you." She said, placed a hand to his forehead and brushed back his hair. The vibrance of his blues eyes seemed to fade as he stared at her. "Rick, don't you leave me. Don't."

He gave a weak nod and she forced a smile. She stood over him and then reached down, took hold of his shoulders. He grunted out and probably would have cried out as well if he had been able when she lifted his right shoulder and slipped her jacket underneath. She then went to work tying it in place as tight as she could, but the wound had been made further in the chest and so made it difficult to apply pressure. She had no choice but to use her hands which became covered with his blood.

"Rick... Rick I love you. Stay with me. I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I-" His breathing became shallow and she knew she was going to lose him. There wasn't a thing she could do.

"I was afraid of this." She turned to find Weyer behind her, his umbrella open and resting on his shoulder. "I warned him, but he wouldn't listen. It feels like we've been here before, Katherine."

"You son-of-a-bitch! You did this!"

"Me? Why do you people insist on blaming others for your mistakes? This time, you really did kill him. No metaphor here, dollface, just pure fact."

"I won't lose him." She turned back to Rick, kept trying to put pressure on the wound as she talked to him. "You hear me, Rick? I came back for you. You need to come back for me."

"Heartbreaking." Weyer said and she heard his hard soles hit upon the tile. He came around Rick and knelt down, stared at the situation. "I shouldn't, but really Agrippa hasn't exactly played fair with you. Take my hand. I'll get you both out."

Kate hesitated for only a moment before she raised her blood slicked hand to Weyer's and clasped her fingers tightly around it.

* * *

><p>As always, a HUGE thanks to ChrisS for beta reading this.<p> 


	5. I Hope You Have A Flotation Device

**A/N:**

_When Xonze's readers entered his office the next day they didn't find anyone. On the desk sat an old TV screen like that from the 1940's, bunny ears and all. They took their seats, whispering to each other. _

_Once they were all seated Martin entered the room and walked silently to the desk, flipped the TV on. The screen flickered grey and white, while lines danced lengthwise until an image of Xonze appeared. He smiled at them all and shifted the camera noisily. "Can you all hear me?"_

_Everyone answered that they could._

_"What?"_

_They shouted that they could. He laughed. _

_"I can't hear you, these things don't have mics. Anyway, I'm sure you're wondering why I'm not there. It seems that a few threats on my life have come to light and so I'm taking some precautions for now. And no, I'm not speaking of the scarecrows, though I'm sure they want a piece of me still."_

_Xonze shifted the camera to show his laptop and the story up on it. "New chapter up. Enjoy!" _

_The TV flicked off._

* * *

><p>Chapter 5<p>

**I Hope You Have A Flotation Device**

He'd been shot. How the hell did this happen? He could feel the pain and he didn't quiet want to open his eyes because he didn't want the conformation.

Kate had shot him.

The last thought sent his head for a spin. Of all the people, of all the times he expected to be shot, he never saw Kate shooting him. She was scared, he reminded himself. It was such an unnatural emotion for her that it seemed even more powerful in her than in other people. He shouldn't have touched her, he knew she was scared, that she had seen things because he heard them talking. Heard himself talking. For a long moment he stood in the darkness of the corner and watched and listen and wondered if he had lost his mind.

He shifted in the bed, groaned as pain punched his nerves like a jackhammer. Was he in the hospital? If so, they had upgraded their sheets since the last time he'd been there. No, not in a hospital, but he was in a bed. His bed. This realization made him want to open his eyes even while something in the back of his mind said it would be best to just keep them closed. Forever.

He let a smile curve his lips at the thought and then forced them open. Sun blurred his vision from the side and he squinted against it as he tried to take in the room. Books. Large bed. Pale ceiling. Yes, this was his room all right. Had he dreamed it all? He went to sit up but found he couldn't manage more than a few inches without wanting to cry out.

How badly had he been shot? he wondered and searched his bare chest and found nothing. The pain was real and he expected bandages, blood... a hole, but there were none of these things, it just felt like it.

"Oh, jeeze, Rick!" Kate was on him before he could say a word. Her hands went to his face, touching, stroking, as if searching for any hint that he wasn't real. When she seem satisfied that he was indeed there she kissed him roughly. Her lips seemed to chase the pain away, or rather they replaced it because all he could feel were hers on his. She must have kissed him for a full minute and he loved every second of it, but when she pulled away the enjoyment died. "I was so worried."

"What the hell happened?" He asked and with her help he propped himself up with a pillow and sat mostly straight. Her relieved face changed so quickly to that of a broken woman that he thought he had imagined the former emotion. Tears were already building at the edge of her eyes and she blinked a few free. Rick reached up, swiped them from her cheek.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"Kate... you didn't do this."

"Yes I did. I shot you. God, Rick, I shot you..."

"I don't have a bullet wound so I don't know what you're talking about." He tried on a smile, but it didn't have the effect he hoped for. She broke down completely, something he'd seen from her only twice before and had wished to never see again. She wrapped her arms around his neck and while it caused more pain, he could deal. It hurt more just to watch her break. Her tears fell hot against his cheek as she pressed her face against his and just cried. He offered no soothing words, no pats on the back because they were meaningless, he just held her. She'd been holding back and just needed to get it out of her system.

"I'm so sorry."

"Hey... Hey look at me." He said and brushed back a curtain of her long hair. Her eyes sparkled with tears and her lips were pulled in thin. What struck him though was how her chin shook, how her brows were pushed up as she fought to keep from crying. "I'm fine. You didn't do anything to me."

She gave a small nod and took a shuddering breath before she spoke. "I need you to tell me something, Rick."

"Anything." He offered another smile, this one a little more effective.

"I had asked you a long time ago why you were... fascinated by death. You told me a story then."

He nodded, already knowing where she was going and what question she would ask. "I can't say it was any one thing that brought me to where I am and what I'm interested in. I think... somewhere my childhood pushed me in that direction. I had no real father for most of that time, so I read. I watched. And sometimes I grew angry with those around me who were so much better off, or so it seemed. So much better than me. I would make up stories of revenge and things of that sort." He paused and shrugged. "The story about the friend isn't completely false, just the surrounding facts." And he closed his mouth as the memory returned. He shifted it from his mind and focused on her.

"Rick..."

"It was a long time ago. I guess that affected me a bit, too."

Kate sat down on the side of the bed and shook her head. "You ever think of acting on those... murders you make up?"

"What?"

"No-nothing." She said quickly, her voice going high and because of that, Rick didn't believe her entirely. Did she think he could kill anyone? That he had it him to be a killer?

"No, tell me."

"It's nothing." She stood away from the bed, walked to the window and stared out. "We should get you to a doctor."

"I'm fine, Kate. Just annoyed now." She looked over, her arms crossed and her face impassive. "Do you really think I'd kill anyone?"

She hesitated, turned her eyes to the wall for only a moment and then looked back. "No. I'm sorry, Rick, I'm just rattled... after everything. I know you wouldn't."

"Doesn't seem that way. Look, if I need to prove myself to you, fine, but I need to know where to start."

"You don't have to prove anything. God, I just asked because in the dream- I just needed to be sure, Rick. I didn't mean anything by it. I didn't say it to hurt you."

"You accuse me of possibly being a murderer, and you didn't think I'd be offended?" He sat up, ignored the pain and swung his legs out. She went to move to him but a quick glare made her stop in her steps. "I can manage. I need to take a piss."

"Are you sure you'll be all right?"

"Hey, if I could murder someone then I'm sure I can pee all by my little self." He said and staggered into the bathroom. She gave a small protest which he cut off by closing the door.

He knew he shouldn't feel so hurt, he had wondered about the same things after the run in with 3XK. He had always known that something lurked inside him, but that he could kill someone? No. Not unless he had no choice, and even then. Kate should have known that already. She shouldn't have to question it.

"Dammit," he said and walked to the toilet, did his business and then went back to the sink, stared at the mirror. His face looked ragged, tired. He glanced to where the pain centered, but found no mark. It felt almost like a phantom hole.

He let his eyes droop as he turned the faucet on, washed his hands and then splashed his face with cold water. It was the visions, he thought as he stared at himself in the mirror. Kate wasn't thinking straight and couldn't help but be worried and he understood that... on some level.

Dammit, she should trust him-know him.

A knock at the door made him turn and he found Kate standing there. "Perlmutter called. He found something."

"Sure you want me to go? Maybe I killed them."

"Fine, don't come. I don't care. Stay here and wallow if you want. I've got work to do." She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I'll call you later when you're acting your age."

With that she disappeared from the door and he didn't go after her. If she couldn't see how annoying it was to know she thought him capable of murder than she didn't know anything. She'd feel just as bad if he'd done the same to her... probably would have shown it in more anger, but the hurt would have been there.

He walked out of the bathroom, pulled a shirt and jeans from the closet, slipped them on and then headed out into the living room. He walked into it just in time to hear the door slam shut. He stared at it for a moment, tried to get a grip on his feelings and wished she would come back through. She didn't however and so he continued on into the kitchen, found a pot of coffee already made and a full cup sitting on the counter.

"What was that all about?" He looked up from the cup, his fingers curling around the handle. Alexis was coming down the stairs, dressed for school. She searched out the room, gave a frown and turned her gaze to Rick. "Where's Kate?"

"Work." He said simply and picked up the mug, took a sip. It tasted just how Kate liked her coffee, would have probably been her third cup. "You all ready for school?"

She looked at him and then at the door before she came down the final two steps. "You two fighting?"

"No, not really. A disagreement."

"Must have been one heck of a disagreement if you're not going to work with her."

"It's something we'll have to work out." He sat down, ignored the tinge in his shoulder. The pain had begun to subside and he couldn't be more thankful for it. "So, big day at school?"

She shrugged as she came up to the counter and swung onto a stool. "Not really, just reading our stuff in English class today, other than that... Dad, what are you two fighting about?"

"Nothing to worry about, we'll get through it." He said, sipped coffee again and stared at the door. They had worst fights, worst words to each other... well maybe not. The words they said in anger were barbed and well aimed, but they usually held some truth and were never about trust. She didn't trust him anymore and he hadn't done anything to break it.

"Okay... Well if you need to talk you know where to find me. I'm off to school." Alexis said and darted around the counter, placed a kiss to his cheek. "See you tonight?"

"Yeah," he said and kissed her back. "Be careful out there."

"Always." She bounded off toward the door but stopped when he called after her.

"Hey, what about breakfast?"

"I'll get something on the way." She said and closed the door behind her, leaving him alone in the apartment and alone with his thoughts.

"This is stupid." He said after a moment of staring into the depth of his coffee. He stood, shuffled over to the phone by the couch and sat down. He went to pick it up, paused when he noticed a moth flexing its wings on the handheld. He thought of killing it, but before he could it took off into the room and he lost track of if. He sighed and picked up the phone, dialed Kate's number.

"_We're sorry, the number you have dialed is incorrect or has blocked this extension. Please hang up and try again._" He furrowed his brow at the phone. He'd dialed the number a thousands time, no way he got it wrong. He shrugged, dialed it again and got the message once more. He grumbled as he stood and went into his office. He found his cellphone there on his desk, snatched it from the table and speed dialed her number.

Same message.

"What the hell?"

A sound of something creaking echoed around him as he stared down at the phone. He turned his eyes to the windows, to the ceiling, to everything he could, but found no source. It grew louder and became a bit of a rocking sound. Like... a ship, he thought. He must've hit his head too.

He slid his phone into his jeans' pocket, walked out of his office and stopped dead in his tracks. The windows to his right were colored a deep blue. Orange sun rays came through distorted and water caustics played over the floor in wavering orange lines. He walked over to the windows and paused a few feet away as the glass crackled under what he assumed was the pressure. What the hell was going on?

"Rocking the boat." A voice said and Rick turned away from the windows and searched out the room for the voice and found a shadow at the top of the stairs. He didn't have to guess that it was Kate's Thin Man. He stood in front of a curtain of darkness, but his white head stood out like a nightlight. "Maybe the boat is sinking?"

"You son-of-a-bitch." Rick said and rushed the stairs. He reached them in maybe a second or two but Thin Man had already disappeared. Rick paused at the foot of the steps and turned to look around the room, found Thin Man now in his office, the same darkness behind him.

"Now, now, none of that, Richard. We're all friends here."

"You're not my friend, not Kate's either. Why the hell are you doing this?"

"To understand, the same way a scientist dissects a frog. It's all to understand, all to test. You two just make such wonderful test subjects, however."

"Oh? So what's my test? Going to have Kate cheat on me or something?"

"It that your fear, Richard? Do you worry about her cheating on you?" He could hear the humor in the creature's voice. It wasn't even close to his greatest fear. "Perhaps you would like to check your phone? I believe you have a message."

His phone vibrated against his thigh and Rick reached down, never removing his eyes from Thin Man. "So what message did you put on here?"

"Me? I've put nothing on there, Richard. I don't have to."

Rick gave a frown and placed the phone to his ear, listened to the recording telling him he had one new message. He typed in his code and then listened as Kate's voice came over.

"Dammit, Castle. Now you have me all messed up and I can't even think straight. Look, maybe we should just take a break for a bit. I'm staying at my apartment tonight, maybe... maybe we could get over this tomorrow. Maybe... we should just..." She paused, swallowed hard. "Take a week from each other, until this whole Umbrella and Thin Man stuff blows over and then we can figure out where we stand... I still care about you, Rick." She hung up after a moment where it seemed she wanted to say more. Rick looked back to Thin Man, the beginnings of tears burned his eyes, but annoyance overrode how upset the message made him.

"She didn't say that."

"Didn't she? She left in a rush from here, anger brimming over. I would lean toward that really being her."

"She wouldn't break up with me. She wouldn't." He hated that it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than Thin Man. "Get out of here-go."

Thin Man clasped his hands in front of him and shrugged. "So the ship is sinking, isn't it? I have to say I expected more, but what can you do? Sometimes you get disappointed. I hope you have a flotation device, Richard."

At the words the glass crackle became a shatter, followed by rolling thunder. Rick had just enough time to turn and see the water before it slammed into him, sent him skirting and rolling across the floor and into the wall. He coughed up water as he tried to stand, but the pressure was so great that he found he could only slide up the wall.

He began to tread water as it reached up toward the ceiling where it stopped, an air pocket forming. It was here that he took a gulp of air, looked for a way out. He found nothing for a moment and then some kind of hatch opened in the ceiling and from it orange light poured through.

He knew it couldn't be real, but it seemed the only way out and so he swam over to it, pushed a floating chair and papers out of the way as he went. There was orange sky above him now and a seagull screeched as it fluttered past the opening, only it looked more like a crow. Freedom, Rick thought even as his loft lurched to the side and so did the square of orange. He reached up, gripped the edge and pulled himself from the water and onto the dark wood. He laid there, pulling air in at a painful pace. The sun felt foreign on his skin, cold.

Opening his eyes he found the sky above spun like a hurricane. The center was nothing more than a black hole, and all around it dark clouds dropped buckets of rain. He turned his head slightly, watched waves lap over the sides of the dark wood rail. If he wasn't so confused he'd have thought it was all very awesome. He went to stand, shook water from his face and paused halfway to standing straight.

Before him stood four men, each dressed smartly in what looked like black suits and each carried a sword of sorts. It struck him as funny as he looked at their faces, their clothes.

"Morning, Nancy." Said one of them. Will, if he remembered right. Beside him stood Tom, and then Josh. The group ended with his dead self from last fall.

"This is a joke, right?" Rick asked as he stood and fought a laugh. "Really, Weyer at least had better visions."

"So, you really think you won her? You really expect her to stay with a child like you?" Josh asked as he took a step forward. In one quick motion he ran his sword through Will. The gasp that came from him made the smile leave Rick. Blood poured over the deck, ran along the pitch stuffed slots and ended at his feet. "And here I thought you actually had a brain in that head of yours."

Josh turned to Tom who was ready for the betrayal, and so they fought, swords clattering together like that from an old pirate movie.

"And they have the nerve to call us childish..." Dead Rick said with a thin smile as he nodded his head to the two of them before he turned his milk colored eyes back. "Explain to me, dear, alive self... what the hell are you thinking?"

"I'm seriously not going to have a conversation with a dead version of me." Rick said. Dead Rick shrugged, walked forward and held the sword out.

"Then duel me." Dead Rick said and tossed the sword which Rick caught easily. "You can explain before I kill you."

"Explain what?" He blocked the first hit, the swords clanging and the hit vibrated painfully up his arm. "What the hell is this suppose to prove?"

"Why are you fighting for her... after everything she's done to us?" Rick blocked, parried, his fencing training coming into play, but Dead Rick matched him swipe for slice. "She shoved us aside for them, made us feel like we meant nothing to her. She'd tell us we were done over and over again, for any little infraction; for any time we began to care about her well being. When we were trying to save her she brushed us off, told us to leave. What the hell makes you think she won't do that again?"

"Because we love each other," he said, brought his sword down and it clanged off a block, but the tip of it caught Dead Rick in the shoulder. No blood came from the wound.

Dead Rick laughed. "You love each other? Are you sure it's not just one way?"

"Positive."

"Idiot." Dead Rick's sword shot out, shifted Rick's guard to the right and landed a long gash along his leg which made Rick stagger back. "She's playing with us, Rick. She's going to leave as soon as it gets too hard... she already has, hasn't she? She hides where there is no need to get attached, where she can bail the moment things get too close. You know this."

"She's changed." Rick said through gritted teeth, and blocked the next blow. "We both have. I'm no longer you."

"You are a foolish child, she-" A blade exploded from Dead Rick's chest, slid out and then came back out at the neck. The grin he'd had on his face fell away as congealed blood began to pour from the wounds. He slid down to the deck, crumpled in on himself. Behind him stood Josh, covered in a number of cuts and wounds.

"Now it's just me and you, Rick." Josh said, a crazy grin on his face. "I'll get her back, because I'm her one and done, not you. Never you."

"Yet she dumped you." Rick said and Josh's grin fell away, a new anger playing over it. Rick fell back, dodging Josh's sword and came up against the rail. The next moment Josh was on him, blade against blade and Rick hooked his feet between the spindles to keep from falling over-board.

"She's already come to see me, Rick. She's already questioning her choice to be with you." The ship rocked at his words, tipped the other way and Josh went with it, their blades parting. "You don't have her anymore."

Rick pushed off the rail, anger filling the void that had formed at their words. He felt them all on some level, yet he knew they weren't true, couldn't be right. His sword flashed out and Josh dodged, blocked. Parrying, Rick brought the sword back around, slipped under Josh's guard and the sword caught him in the calf, caused him to kneel.

Breathing heavily, Rick held his sword poised above Josh who just stared up, no emotion on his face. "Go on, but if you think this changes how she is, you're wrong."

"Rick!" The voice caused him to freeze and he turned around, found Kate at the helm of the ship. She moved away from the wheel, rushed down the steps and stumbled when she reached the bottom, turned to run for him. He felt his heart lift just slightly, and then it fell as she stopped at Josh, threw her arms around him. "Stop it, Rick. Just stop it."

"Kate..."

"We're done." She said, stared up at him with so much anger that he felt himself shatter. The sword fell from his hand, clattered to the ground. "We're done, Rick."

The ship dipped down nose first, and Rick lost his footing, landed on his bad shoulder and cried out. He opened his closed eyes, found Kate a few feet away, knelt down to look at him. "You were never right for me, Rick. We both knew it. You've done too much that I can't forgive you for."

"What? What did I do?"

"Enough. Taking me away from Roy when he needed me most. Ripping away my hope, my resolve when dealing with my mother's case. Pushing me into it in the first place, after I had put it all behind me. You always pushed, until it became too dangerous. Always there... but not always."

"I didn't want to lose you, Kate."

"You already have."

The ship gave a loud groan as the water began to lap up the bow and then it disappear beneath the waves. Rick tipped with it, rolled along the deck. He hit the water and it stole his breath away as the chill ran over his skin. He couldn't quite seem to care as hands reached around him, pulled him deeper. He kept his eyes open, could still see Kate and Josh on the deck through the water. Could see her watching him drown.

* * *

><p>As always thanks to ChrisS. I don't know how she puts up with editing my stuff. :P<p> 


	6. I Don't Hate You For That

**A/N:**

_"What do you mean the werewolves have attacked the zombies?" Xonze asked as he stared at Martin through the camera. "I thought their treaty lasted until next Halloween."_

_"No sir, it was for this halloween. You were set to see both sides last week to get a new treaty setup."_

_"Well hell, why didn't you remind me?"_

_"I may clean up after you, but I am not your mother." His butler said stiffly and Xonze glared until he saw his readers enter into the room from the door of his study._

_"One moment, my friends." He said and held up his finger to another camera before he turned his gaze back to his butler. "Tell them to call a ceasefire and I'll be down today to talk to them both."_

_"Sir, are you sure…?"_

_"Do it." Martin nodded and took off. "Sorry about that, running a nightmare-like country is tough sometimes. Anyway, please, everyone sit. Did everyone enjoy the last chapter?"_

_The glares told him not so much. "Well, can't all be fun and games. I think you'll like this one, it's a little light and a little fun. Now, if you excuse me I need to stop a supernatural war."_

_The TV turned off with a pop._

* * *

><p>Chapter 6<p>

**I Don't Hate You For That**

Rain began to fall and Kate cursed. She flipped on her lights, the windshield wipers, and squinted to see past the splatter of water. She did not need this right now. She already had enough to deal with without this goddamn rain. She stopped at a red-light and dropped her head to the steering wheel.

An emotional wreck... that's what she felt like. She hated how exposed everything was now that she'd been with Rick. He had a way of getting past her guard, past her walls and at the fleshy, sometimes painful, place inside her. He didn't even say anything horrible to her and yet she felt like she'd been kicked in the gut.

She should have never brought it up, she thought as a car horn echoed from behind her. She looked up, noticed the green light and went through only to stop at the next. At this rate she'd get to the morgue by the next Ice Age. She turned her eyes to her cellphone that sat in the passenger seat of the car... where Rick usually was.

Being annoyed with him was nothing new to her, but how annoyed she got was way over the line. He was acting like a baby though, like she had said the worst thing ever to him.

Maybe she had.

Maybe it had always been a worry for him, not on the surface, but underneath. Maybe... she shut down the line of thought and bit her lip to make sure it stayed closed. He couldn't be a murderer, couldn't kill anyone. But could he cheat on her? Would he?

Why was she so worried about all of it now? A year had passed, they were still together even after what happened five months ago. She absently rubbed at the raised scar on her chest. He'd been there the entire time, even when she had been mad at him, told him they were done. When he left her apartment, anger coming off him like heat waves from asphalt, she broke again, not for her mother or herself, but for what she had ruined. He didn't give up then either.

He never seemed to be able to just let her be and was there in the hospital when she woke. He was the first thing she saw. Was it because he knew how good they were for each other? Did he see it before she did? Before Weyer showed up?

He had to have known. Why hadn't she seen it? She knew why, she thought as she made a turn. She was afraid.

The rain came down in sheets and her wipers struggled to keep up. She felt a bit like the wipers. She couldn't keep up with everything now. This Thin Man brought a lot of problems with him, ones that they didn't need to deal with.

She paused, nearly stopped the car in the middle of the street. She had only tapped her brakes but a chorus of car horns exploded behind her. She barely even noticed.

That had been his plan all along. To drive a wedge between her and Rick. She'd gone right along with it and let him plant the seed of doubt in her head. Goddammit. She swerved, found a side street and made a round-about u-turn and headed back toward Rick's.

While doing so she picked up her cellphone, hit the speed dial and waited. "Come on, Rick. Pick up. Pick up..." She got his voice mail and cursed as she listened to his voice and navigated through the rain and traffic. "Rick, hey, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, okay? Stay home, I'm coming back. We need to talk, and I need to grovel a little I think."

She hung up, sped through the streets the best one could in New York City. She made better time back than she made on the way to the morgue and soon found herself outside Rick's apartment building. The doorman came out and met her.

"Back so soon, Detective Beckett? Everything okay?" He asked and she shook her head as she walked past him, droplets from her hair leaving behind cold tracks on her skin.

"No, I screwed up."

He held the door open for her and gave her a frown as she passed. "Well, I'm sure it'll all work out."

"I hope so." Kate hit the button for the elevator, stood to the side of it and waited impatiently. She started to consider taking the stairs, but before she could the doors opened. She stepped in, picked Rick's floor and waited a little bit more. When she arrived on his floor she rushed from the elevator, dodged a woman and her daughter and made the left hand turn. She paused in front of Rick's door, a chill running through her.

Something felt off as she stood staring at the blank door, but she couldn't quite place it. She moved closer but heard nothing. A smell coming from the room hit her, a salty, sea air smell that made her breath through her mouth as she used the key Rick had given her.

On the other side she found the apartment as it had been when she left, except for a very soaked Rick laying on the wooden floor. He coughed harshly, water spewing onto the floor around him.

"Rick?" She called as she rushed over and nearly slipped on the puddle of water that surrounded him. She reached out and gripped his shoulders, flipped him onto his back. He stared without seeing, his eyes distant and blank. "Rick? Come on, Rick. Answer me."

"I'm sorry." He said and it came out in a raspy voice.

"What happened?"

"I... fought for you, but lost. I'm sorry." He closed his eyes, slowed his breathing and she shook him hard enough that his hands slapped against the floor. "I'm sorry."

"You haven't lost, dammit. Don't believe that, Rick." She brought him to her and kissed him as hard as she could. Pressure and want seeped from her and she just prayed he'd kiss back. He did, slowly like he still wasn't all there, but she felt her heart lift slightly and broke off.

"Kate?" He asked, his face in complete surprise. "Kate, you're really here?"

"Always am, Rick." She touched his cheek, smiled at him. "You met Thin Man."

"Yeah, he's a bastard." He sat up with her help, shivered in his wet clothes. "I get it now, he isn't subtle like Weyer, but he's efficient."

"What do you mean?"

"I fought for you against... myself, against Josh, Demming and Will. It was sort of surreal."

"You fought all the guys I've dated in the last four years or so?"

Rick shrugged, swiped his hand through his hair which threw water back on the floor. "Swashbuckling-style."

She couldn't hold back the small smile. "But you didn't win?"

He got to his feet and shook out his hands, met her eyes and held them. He looked sick, she thought, tired. It worried her more than she would let on, but he seemed to sense it and shook his head. "I'm fine. I did win, in a sense... but you didn't choose me."

"That's pretty much impossible. I'd always choose you."

"I know," he said and frowned down at himself, ran his hands over his soaked shirt. "I need a shower."

"After you tell me what happened. What do you mean I didn't choose you?" He sighed, undid his shirt and threw it over a chair and stood there in the space between the kitchen and living room bare-chested, shivering a little less. "And don't try to distract me."

He gave a laugh. "Sorry, I just feel so uncomfortable in this stuff. I'll refrain from dropping trou though, for now." He leaned back on the counter and told her everything. She listened, not believing it all. She felt a pang of guilt hit her when he got the end, explained all that happened.

"I don't hate you for that, Rick."

"I do, I hate myself for pulling you away from him." His eyes didn't meet hers and she stepped forward, but he slipped away, around the counter and paused there. "I know you can forgive me for that, but I can't. He was like family to you, Kate. I should have never..."

"Stop it." She said it in such a voice that he looked up and, she thought, stopped breathing for a moment. "Just stop it. Stop blaming yourself for everything. I do that enough as it is. You saved my life then."

"Doesn't feel that way. It didn't after I asked you to walk away either."

This was not a discussion she wanted to have. She knew she had hurt him before, probably as much as she had hurt herself when she told him they were done, that they were over. She regretted the words even now and if she could she'd have gone back in time and slapped herself silly for saying them to him.

And for what she did after she'd been shot.

She went away, disappeared off the earth because she had to. She couldn't face him, face herself after she'd been shot, who could? She needed the time to herself, but when she came back she made it work with him. She couldn't waste another moment, and their relationship jumped into overdrive, all the small troubles that they had in the beginning seemed to have been put aside.

It was months ago. Somethings weren't forgotten, she knew that better than most, but she thought they'd got through everything pretty well. It hadn't been easy and there was a lot of 'I'm sorrys' and 'forgive mes' from both and they worked through it, were still happy. Then the visions started again. To be honest she had been surprised that Weyer hadn't showed back up in those two months that she spent away. She kept expecting him to show in her dad's living room when she was on one of her midnight water quests. But he never did and she began to hope that he'd never show again.

"Rick, do you know what it means when I tell you I love you?" She walked to the counter, reached over and placed her hands to his face. His skin was still cold and clammy. "It means that no matter what I'll forgive you, no matter what we'll work through it. That there isn't another guy out there that could replace you for me. You don't have to think about what has happened before because this is where we are. Where I want to be."

His hand touched her's, fingers light on her skin. "I was wrong to do it."

"Montgomery asked you to. You were trying to keep me safe, I get that, I understand it. It was hard, Rick. I left because I needed to get over the pain everything caused me. I don't blame you for it."

He nodded, but kept his head down. She hated seeing him like this, he carried so much of the guilt, and she had caused some of it. For a time she did blame him for everything. He had been the one pushing, the one telling her they could figure it out... it scared her when he came to her apartment and told her they couldn't. It scared her so much that she had only anger to hide behind. She demonized him, made him the source of her trouble, even while another part of her called her bluff.

She removed her hands from him and came around the counter. He watched her lazily, but his posture changed when she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. "Look, you know me, Rick. You know how I am and how tough it is to bring down the walls sometimes. I need you and you need me. That's all that matters. I don't blame you and if you need to hear me say I forgive you then I do. I forgive you for everything and I hope you can forgive me too." She looked up at him, held his eyes. "You don't get to be selfish here, share some of that guilt, okay?"

"If I have to." He said with a smile and she kissed him again, quick and easy. "I'm a little surprised you came back."

"Why?"

"Something else from the dream, got a message from you... Well, not from you I guess. It said you wanted to break things off. I knew it was fake."

"Of course it was fake. I'm not going anywhere." She looked down when her phone rang and sighed, pulled it from her hip. "Beckett. I know, I'm running late. Perlmutter, deal with it. I'm on my way now." She hung up, gave Rick a half frown with a shake of her head.

"Sorry, I made you late."

"Come on," she said and pushed away from him. "Get dressed, I'll wait."

"Sure you don't want to come with me to the shower?" He gave her a sly grin.

"If I hadn't got one earlier, I'd probably take you up on that offer. Go on, hurry before Perlmutter blows a blood vessel." She said as she walked behind him and began to push him out around the counter and toward his room.

"It's not like it would be that big of a deal, there are tons of doctors there."

"I don't think any of them would be able to fix that."

"True... but they wouldn't have to move him if-"

"Get going." She said with one last shove.

* * *

><p>As always, a super-califragilistic-expiali-docious (had to space it) thanks to ChrisS for her awesome help in beta reading for me.<p> 


	7. That's What You Call Fooling Around

**A/N:**_ Xonze staggered into the study looking half dead. His readers all turned with a start and he offered a smile to them. "I'm fine." He said and made his way to the large desk at the other end of the room, fell into the chair. "Luckily I was able to finish this chapter while taking the hansom to the Werewolf camp. Please excuse the ink smudges, it was a bumpy ride for most of it."_

_He opened his laptop and hit the post button. "Not really all that scary, but pretty Caskett friendly which should make you all happy… Caskett is such a creepy word. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it and review if you have the time."_

_With that Xonze dropped his head to the back of the chair and was out._

* * *

><p>Chapter 7<p>

**That's What You Call Fooling Around?**

Rick kept his gaze on Kate when they entered into the morgue, but it stayed with her for only a moment before it traveled over the three young bodies. They laid displayed like meat on a slab, young flesh and little blood. One of the girls and the boy had already been worked on, the sign of a Y stitched in their chest told a tale that hit a bit too close.

Kate walked forward into the room, paused at the first table and he watched her face become passive as those green eyes of hers shifted over the bodies. He knew that most would just see someone not caring, but he knew her well enough to see the pain, the sadness that entered into her posture. She felt for the victim, felt for the families, because at one point she had been a part of the horror. She understood, and wanted nothing more than to get justice for them.

Just as she wanted justice for herself.

There were still days he knew she wanted to dive back into her mother's murder and those days were especially hard because he had to keep her back, had to... withhold bits of truth so that he could keep her safe. He wouldn't lose her. Not to those bastards that killed her mother and not to Weyer or his damned son. She'd become as much a part of him as a leg or arm and he'd give up either to keep her.

"Perlmutter?" She called, her voice slightly annoyed, but behind it laid a bit of fear. It seemed to be a running theme, whenever those bastards showed up the people that should have been around never were. Rick said a small prayer, moved to stand at her side as she called for the M.E. again.

He reached out took her hand. If the place did turn into another nightmare he wouldn't let her out of his sight, or his reach. She looked at him and then at his hand, gave a squeeze.

"Just hold on, I'm finishing up a report. You people need to learn patience." The balding M.E. appeared from the back of the room, how they missed him Rick couldn't say and it didn't matter. He was just glad he was there. "I figured if I was gonna be held up for an hour or so I might as well get something done. Unlike some people, work doesn't just stop here."

"Right, just tell me what you have, Perlmutter."

"Three dead teens. Good enough?"

"No." Kate said and released Rick's hand, moved forward to stand across from Perlmutter who sat a chart next to the girl who laid on his table. "You said on the phone you had something."

"I also said you should get down here quickly, that didn't happen."

"Perlmutter, I've had a really crappy morning. You don't want to mess with me. What did you find?"

"She always like this?" Perlmutter asked and seemed to be addressing the question to Rick, which surprised the hell out of him. Perlmutter usually liked to pretend that he didn't even exist.

"She has her moments." He said and grinned at the glare he received. "But she's right in this case."

"Sure. Anyway, three teens: seventeen, eighteen, and sixteen respectfully." He pointed at the girl on the table before him, the girl a table over and finally the boy at the end. "All look like healthy kids for their age, the stomach contents contained the normal assortment of junk food and soda, though."

"We saw the garbage. TOD?"

"Between six and eight. Cause of death seems to be from the numerous wounds made by a very sharp object."

"Like a knife?" Rick asked as he looked over the girl. The wounds had begun to purple around the skin and the veins on the girl's arm stood out like a blue roadmap. "Or something else?"

"Something else," Perlmutter said and picked up a pen, pointed at one of the wounds on the stomach. The large, but shallow gash, went from side to side. "These cuts are jagged, but not from the serrated edge of any knife I could find. It didn't so much cut as it tear the skin apart."

"Like claws?" Rick asked and Kate looked back at him, he shrugged. "What? It could be claws..."

Perlmutter turned to Kate, waited. She made a small groan in her throat, shifted her weight to the other foot. "Okay, was it claws?"

"No." Kate looked back with a bit of a victory smile. "It looks more like teeth."

"Teeth?" The smile disappeared like it had never been there.

"I didn't think I stuttered," Perlmutter said. "Yes, teeth. Or a tooth, it's hard to tell with all the damage. If I had to guess? Maybe a very large shark's tooth."

"Shark's tooth. You're kidding?" Rick asked and when Perlmutter just stared he cleared his throat and said, "Yeah, didn't think so."

"Okay, you get anything back from the lab?"

Perlmutter kept the snarl small, but Rick had a feeling it took some will. "As I said, they're backlogged."

"And as I said, you'd have to find a way to move it along."

"I did. It still takes time, Beckett."

"Then give me something I can use now, something to look at." She said as she placed her hands on her hips and took a step forward.

Perlmutter gave a sigh, walked over to a small table that sat against the wall and picked up an evidence bag from it. "Found this in the old girl's jeans. It's an address. For what? I don't know, nor do I much care. That's your area."

Kate took the bag and Rick moved in next to her, looked over her shoulder at the small slip of paper inside it. The handwriting had been blurred by some sort of liquid, maybe rain, but the cursive was neat enough to read.

"558, 125th street. Apartment 526."

"Good, you two can read. Now, if you would kindly leave I've still got some unpleasant work ahead of me." Perlmutter said as he looked down at the girl and Rick thought he saw sorrow in his features.

"Yeah... as soon as you know anything-"

"I'll contact you." He waved them off and slipped on a pair of blue latex gloves.

Kate stalked out of the room, past Rick and into the hall. He watched her go, took one last glance at Perlmutter and the dead kids and headed out behind her.

"We checking the address?"

"You're damn right we are." She said as she pulled out her phone, placed it to her ear. "Ryan, I need you to do a run on an address. 125th street, 5-5-8. I'm looking for info on who lives in Apartment 5-2-6. Anything and everything. Great, thanks." She hung up when the reached the front doors and stopped when they found the rain still pouring over the city like a wavering waterfall had been draped across it.

"Well, it wouldn't be October without some rain, would it?" Kate asked as she stopped at the top of the steps and looked out, put her hands into her leather jacket. "Remember when we were here last year? It rained then too."

"I thought you didn't like thinking about it." Rick said and glanced over.

"I don't, at least not the dreams. I enjoyed the rest though, the time with you. I was scared a lot then, you made things a little easier for me."

He gave a small chuckle. "You didn't show it that much. You never do."

"I do show it, though I try not to. I hate that feeling of being afraid, of being helpless."

"Kate Beckett, helpless? Yeah, the day that happens the world might just end." She leaned into him, bumped shoulders as she smiled. "What's on your mind, Kate?"

"I don't know. Lot's of things, mostly what's in that apartment."

"What do you think is?"

She shrugged, held her hand out into the rain and let rivulets from the rain flow over her fingers. "Something to do with Thin Man and Weyer would be my guess. I sort of don't want to know."

"Whatever it is, we'll figure it out."

"Maybe. Are you still mad at me?" She dropped her hand, stared at it for a moment as the reaming water clung to her skin in thin trails.

"A tiny bit."

"So, I still have some groveling to do?"

"Oh hell yeah," he said with a sly grin and she shoved her shoulder against him again. He didn't just shift over this time, but reached around and grabbed her, pulled her close. "That could be considered assault there, miss."

"Book me." She pushed up against him, stared into his eyes and wrapped her arms around his waist. "But then, you're not a cop, are you?"

"Honorary Detective," he said, kissed the tip of her nose. "And I'm going to have to ask you to stop trying to coerce me."

"Oh, but you're just an Honorary Detective... do I have to?" She asked as she played with a button on his shirt.

"Sadly, you do, Detective, because otherwise there might be a strip search in your future."

"Creep." She said with a laugh and he grinned back. She'd been a little more open lately, and he was glad to see it. The dreams were affecting her, but that she could still have a little fun with him set his mind at ease more than anything. "All right, I think that's enough fooling around-"

"That's what you call fooling around?"

"In public- yeah," she said and pulled away from him after a kiss that she let linger just enough to get his heart thumping. She was such a goddamn tease, Rick thought as she turned to look at the rain again and ignored him. "I don't think it's gonna let up."

"Nope, but I think if we run really fast we can dodge the droplets."

"You first, I want to see how its done." She said with a nod toward the parking lot.

"Give me the keys."

"In your dreams, Castle." She said and swatted his hand away. "We'll go on three, okay?"

"You're not gonna pull a Lucy on me, are you?"

"No football around here."

"Mhm. Okay, on three. My count." Rick said and held up a fist. "One." A finger shot out and she crossed her arms, waited. "Two... Three!"

Neither moved. Rick cocked an eyebrow at her. "I knew it."

"Knew what?" Kate asked and gave a smirk. "You didn't go either."

"Because... forget it." He reached out and grabbed her hand. She gave a small squeak as he pulled her with him down the steps and into the pouring rain. They rushed together across the parking lot to her car, both being soaked to the bone by the time they reached the doors. Kate fumbled with the keys, hit the unlock button and got in. Before Rick got around the car to the passenger side, however, she locked the doors again.

"Kate, not funny." Rick said against the window as she stared defiantly out at him. He tried the door again and glared when it did nothing. "If I get sick, guess who's gonna be taking care of me."

"Your mother?" She asked as she started the car, turned on the windshield wipers.

"No, you. Open the door!"

She laughed when he squinted at the water the wipers flung at him, and reached over, unlocked the door. "Sorry, locks got stuck."

He got in, reached over, and pulled her into a tight hug, soaking her even more. "Castle, let go!"

"Fair's fair." Rick said when he released her and tried to pull off his jacket. He struggled with the sleeves and sprayed water everywhere in the car.

"That's what you call fair?" Kate said and shot a glare at him as she pulled out of the parking spot and out onto the road.

They made it halfway toward the address when Kate's phone rang. She went to reach for it, but found it almost impossible to get the phone from her wet jacket pocket. She cursed, swerved some into the other lane and got a screeching horn in return. "Dammit. Rick help me out here."

He laughed, reached into her jacket and fought to get the phone out. When he did he answered it while he watched her, watched her face shift into her death stare. It wasn't his fault that she looked beyond cute when she was annoyed.

"Detective Kate Beckett's Phone. I'm sorry, she can't come to the phone right now as she is soaked and driving. If you would like to leave a message, please do so at the insult flung at me." He held the phone out to her and she snatched it way from him.

"You're such a jerk sometimes, Castle."

"I know, makes it more fun." She turned from him, held the phone to her ear.

"Hey, Ryan. Yeah, Castle is being his normal idiot self."

"Hey-"

"What did you find on the apartment?" She paused, listened and Rick wished she'd put it on speaker so he could hear as well. "What do you mean empty? The entire building? Okay, what about power to the building? Maybe someone is squatting." She frowned at the answer and stopped at a light. "Thanks Ryan. No, not at the moment but if we do I'll call when we get there. I want you and Esposito to go bother Perlmutter and see if the lab came back with anything yet."

"And I'm a jerk..." Rick said and she looked over, gave a small smile.

"Thanks, Ryan." She hung up, went through the light.

"Gonna share?"

"You really think you deserve it after everything?"

"Yes. Spill, Kate."

She shrugged, pursed her lips. "Nothing really, the building is an apartment building, obviously, but it's abandoned."

"Why would our vics have gone there?"

"To do drugs? Have sex? You were a kid once, Rick, what would you have done?"

"Explored, I guess." Rick said as he sat back in the chair. It still didn't fit for him. An apartment building across town from where the kids lived and went to school seemed a bit too out of the way. Sure with a bus or Taxi it would only take a couple of minutes, but there were abandoned, or underused buildings, all over the city. Why this one?

"You're thinking awfully loud over there." Kate said, pulling him out of his thoughts. He looked over, found her watching him carefully. She'd found a parking spot on the side of the street and had already shut the car off. "Care to share, since I shared with you?"

"Just thinking."

"About... that vision?"

Rick shook his head, undid his seatbelt. "No, but now I will be, so thanks for that."

* * *

><p>As always a Godzilla sized thanks to ChrisS for beta reading this for me. (insert still moving mouth here.)<p> 


	8. You Made The Choice For Me

**A/N1: **The Fanfiction site seems to be having some odd troubles. Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 weren't showing up before, but they are now, so you may have some catching up to do as this is chapter 8. I apologize for this and did what I could on my end to fix it, even removing Chapter 7 and adding it again. Sorry for the second e-mail if you're on Alerts for this story.

**A/N2: **

_Days had passed since the last anyone had seen Xonze, even Martin seemed to be getting a little unnerved, searching out the windows whenever thunder cracked outside of them. His readers continued to come by, but he never showed, not on the TV and not in person. _

_One day a thud sounded from somewhere downstairs. Everyone stood and rushed down the steps to find the front door open. The wind whispered in, the leavers rattling like the last breath of a dying man. Laying on the floor was a package and Martin moved quickly past everyone and picked it up. Inside he found a stack of papers. _

_It was the next chapter. _

* * *

><p>Chapter 8<p>

**You Made The Choice For Me**

The rain didn't lighten when they got out of the car and the sky only grew darker. A train of clouds rolled above them, made the sky a ceiling of grey and blue.

Kate looked up at them as she closed her door and for a moment wondered if Weyer had caused the rain. How much could he really change? She didn't dwell on the thought and instead hurried across the street and got under the small eave that stood over the door to the apartment building.

"You got a key?" Rick asked as they stood there, huddled away from the rain. She reached out, tried the door and found it open. "Okay, guess that's convenient."

"Just our luck," she said and stepped in, turned on her flashlight. The place inside looked like something from a nightmare. Tan wallpaper peeled away in strips on all sides of the hall. Wood planks and plaster pebbles and dust littered the carpet and crunched under their feet while a haze seemed to hang over the place, making the beam of her flashlight look almost solid. She searched out the walls, the two rooms closest to them and then let the light linger on the stairs.

"Five flights." She said with a small sigh. She regretted wearing heels and shifted on her feet.

"I could carry you." Rick said from beside her.

"You'd drop me." She said back with a small laugh and he just shrugged.

"Hey, I offered. You first?"

She nodded, took to the steps and headed up them two at a time. They reached the landing, paused to check the hallway and then continued up. When they reached the fifth floor they leaned against the wall, took a small breather before heading into the hall.

What they found on the other side of the door surprised them. The hall looked pristine, like it came out of some fifties movie. Kate furrowed her brow at it as her flashlight shined over a clean carpet and non-broken tables and chairs. The lights were even in place on the walls, though not on. The only thing that told her that the place hadn't been inhabited in a long was the few moths that clung to the walls.

"Rick..."

"I'm here still." He said, touched her shoulder and gave a small squeeze. She nodded, walked forward and shined the light over the doors. 526 gleamed in the light of her flashlight at the end of the hall. She walked to it, pulled her pistol and paused at the molding.

"Ready?"

"We don't get out of each other's sight." He said, and in the dim light she could see him point at her. "Right?"

"Right." She said and touched the doorknob, found it unlocked. She turned it slowly until it unlatched and then moved back, nodded to Rick. He reached out, shoved it open and Kate stepped inside, pistol first.

Orange light flooded the room from the windows facing the street. It bled through blinds, drew long lines of shadow and orange over her and the walls. It also outlined someone sitting in a chair, a leg over a knee and leaning back.

"NYPD, put her your hands up." She shouted, held the pistol and flashlight out in front of her. The beam seemed to die before it reached the darkness that covered whoever sat in the chair, like they sat behind a wall. "I'm not going to say it again. Hands up!"

"Kate, really now is that how you want to start this session off?" The voice of her therapist made her stop in her tracks. She looked back, expecting Rick not to be there, but found him at the doorway, looking confused between her and the shadow at the end of the room. "Please, come have a seat."

"Dr. Burke?" Kate asked and dropped her weapon slightly. "What's going on?"

"That's what I'd like to know. Please, sit. Both of you. And put that gun away, Kate." Kate glanced at Rick who had moved up beside her and he gave a small shrug. This didn't make any sense. Dr. Burke shouldn't have been there. She dropped the pistol when Rick walked toward the sofa that sat across from Dr. Burke, staring at him as if to make sure Burke was real. "It's nice to finally meet you, Rick."

He held out a hand and Rick glanced back at Kate for a moment and then took the hand, shook. It felt off, but she holstered her pistol, walked forward. "This is something Weyer or Thin Man is doing."

"More than likely, but yet here we are. I wanted to talk to the both of you."

"About?" Kate said as she sat down next to Rick, placed her hands between her knees and leaned forward. "What exactly do you want from us."

"The truth."

Rick turned to her, orange lines painting his face. It seemed almost like he was behind bars. She looked back to Dr. Burke, kept her annoyance in check. "And I'll repeat: about?"

"About you two. You'll notice that the lines don't touch you, Kate." He made a motion with a shadowed hand to Rick and then to herself. She looked down, frowned when she found only darkness there. "It's not because he's sitting beside you. He could be miles away and the light still wouldn't touch you."

"You're doing that, or Weyer."

"Who is this Weyer, Kate?"

"This is a joke," Rick said and went to stand, but something grabbed him from behind, held him tight to the couch. Kate turned just enough to see that it was herself holding Rick in place. "Let go-"

"Now come on, Rick. We're here to help Kate, aren't we?" Burke leaned forward, his face also behind bars. "You see Kate, the lines are from your wall. You're barring us out."

"Are you out of your mind?" She asked and turned away from her clone as its hand wrapped over Rick's chest. "Weyer? Thin Man? Come out, stop playing games."

"It's just us three... well five, I should say. We're here for you Kate. Here for both of you." Burke shifted in his seat, looked over Kate's shoulder. Hands reached around Kate quickly. They continued down and then twisted arms together which kept her from moving. She didn't have to turn to know it was herself holding her there, she could see the hair, feel the wetness of blood against her back. "Now, are you willing to talk to us? Are you willing to let the bars down for just a little?"

"I'm willing to break some bones if you don't let me go." Kate said, thrashed a bit but found it impossible to move.

"Yes, I've noticed that stubborn streak in you before. It's an interesting combination, you hiding but also never giving up. You have this lock on you to keep everyone back and from seeing too much of what you have inside." He paused and made a small note on the legal pad he had on his lap. "Would you say that Rick is the key to you, Kate?"

"I-what?"

"It's a simple enough question. Does he unlock you? Does he get past the guards you set up for yourself to keep everyone at bay? He found the key, didn't he?"

Kate gave a frown, relaxed slightly into the couch and kept her eyes from looking at Rick. She knew he had always had a way of getting past her guard, to get to what lay deep inside. He also knew what to do when he got there, knew the buttons to push, the... doors to unlock.

"Kate, it's nothing to be ashamed of, after all you have the keys to Rick."

"What do you mean?"

"You've always had the keys to him and his emotions. Did you not realize that? Do you think that you are the only one exposing yourself to hurt and heartache?"

"I'd never hurt him." Kate said and turned to Rick as if to make him believe it by seeing her face. His own expression showed hard under the lines, but it softened when his eyes met hers.

"Not with malice, no. You do hurt him though, to protect yourself you hurt him. Is that how you want this to go, Kate? To always keep the bars up, thorny ivy growing round it? So anyone who gets close to you, Kate, gets pricked?" Burke turned his gaze to Rick, gave a small smile. "It so happened though that you ran up against someone who's a glutton for punishment... among other things."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Rick asked and he shifted a bit in the arms that held him in place.

"You just don't take the hint, do you, Rick?" Burke said and moved a hand as he talked. "She didn't want you. She thought you were little more than a playboy... and that was closer to the truth than you wanted to admit. When you first met it was you that made the first move and she that shot you down. You found a challenge in that, didn't you?"

"I dunno, I guess. She's always been a challenge."

"And that drew you like a fly to a bug zapper." Burke said and made another note. "How many times do you have to be shocked to realize that it probably isn't good for your health to keep doing something?"

"If I want something, there aren't enough times in the world."

"And you wanted Kate." The pen shifted toward Kate and she stared at the sharp point of it. "Strange then that you would hurt her over and over and over."

"I didn't-"

"You did. You didn't know all the time, but you had an inkling. You kissing that actress did some damage."

"She was with someone, was I suppose to sit and pine?" Kate looked over but Rick kept his eyes forward. Had she really expected him to wait of her? She remembered seeing him and that actress in the elevator, remembered watching them kiss deeply when the doors closed. She couldn't believe it then and she couldn't explain the pain that shocked her system, or the joy when she found out he hadn't gone home with her look-alike.

"Isn't that what you did? In your own way, I mean. She pushed you back and you came charging forward again. I wonder, what is it about you that makes her give you so much leeway? She hadn't suffered fools easily before."

"Watch it..." Kate said and Burke looked back to her, smiled.

"You don't consider him a fool anymore?"

"I never did."

"Now, Kate, lying will get us no where. Tell the truth."

"I-" she looked to the floor because she knew Rick was watching. "He had his moments, but he isn't a fool. He's smarter than almost anyone I've met before. He just-" She gave a shrug and the arms closed a bit more around her as if to hug. "Didn't know when to quit, when to back down and keep his mouth shut and take something seriously."

"And he still doesn't?"

"No, he does. He's gotten better."

"He's changed... for you."

Kate frowned. He had changed over the years. She noticed that he spent less time with random women, that he didn't have a flavor of the week anymore for months before they got together, and he began to stop looking at random women the best he could. He was still male, but he didn't do his staring as blatantly anymore. Did he do that for her?

"He's changed a lot for you, a lot to get past your guard, because-?"

"I love her." Rick said, and seem surprised by his own voice. Kate looked over quickly and Rick gave a shy smile. "I couldn't help it, and still can't. I only wish I had met you sooner. The first time you spoke to me, the first time you ripped me apart in that interrogation room I knew I had to have you."

"Like a trophy?" Burke asked and Rick's face contorted in anger, a feature that she hadn't seen often. "Or a conquest?"

"As a friend. As a lover. As everything. Make sense to you?" Rick asked and Burke shrugged.

"Seems so. Yet, Kate keeps you locked out."

"No, she guards herself, but she doesn't keep me locked out."

"No? What about you. You keep her locked out of some things."

"I-" Rick turned to look at the window and tried to pull at the arms around him. They grew tighter, drew closer to his throat. "I don't."

"You do. You lock her out of things because you fear for her."

"You need to stop. Let us go."

"Do you think she doesn't deserve to know?" Burke asked, his already deep voice growing deeper. "I think she does."

"Rick?" Kate could feel her heart race slightly. He didn't look at her which worried her ever more. She reached out, touched his shoulder and his head dropped slightly. "Rick, what is he talking about?"

"It's about your mother's case, Kate." Burke said and she felt her veins freeze, her body become stone. She couldn't take her eyes off Rick as he reached up with a hand, wiped it through his hair. The bars on his skin grew darker and a bit wider, like he was slipping away from her.

"Rick?"

"I'm sorry, Kate." She felt her stomach heave. What did he do? She couldn't shake the sick feeling that played in her core. "I did... I did what I had to. I didn't know what else to do."

"So you hid it from her." Burke said.

"Yes, you bastard. You happy? Yes, I hid things from her."

"Why?" Kate asked, her grip on his shoulder tighten. "Why would you hide anything about my mother from me?"

He looked over with an expression that she could only call broken. "I did it to keep you safe. I had to keep you safe."

"Go on, Rick. Explain." Burke said with an outstretched hand.

"Shut up." Rick said and broke free of the hands and walked to the window, stood there. He stared out into the bright orange light and dropped his hands into the pockets of his jacket. "I'm sorry, Kate. They were going to kill you if you kept digging."

"So you lied to me? You told me there were no more leads. You told me that we should just wait, that something would show. That we would work it together!"

Rick spun on his heel. "I know what I said... You don't understand."

"Explain it to me, Castle." She said it with so much venom that even in her anger she could see the anguish it caused him.

He sat back down blew out a breath and reached for her hands. She didn't let him hold them because she couldn't stand his touch at the moment. She shifted over on the couch, but turned to face him.

"Look, what was I suppose to do, Kate? I got a phone call after you were shot... he said he could keep you safe, but only if you backed off. They were going to kill you. They almost did once and I wouldn't let you be in danger again."

"You made the choice for me."

"Because I knew the choice you'd make otherwise!" Rick said and looked almost close to tears. His breathing came in harsh gasps but slowly he got it back under control, clenched his teeth. "I knew you wouldn't let it be, you would keep pushing until they put you in the ground. I couldn't let that happen."

"You had no right to make that decision on your own."

"The hell I didn't. I love you. I'd do anything to protect you."

"It was MY mother, Castle!"

"I know... I know." It came out in a shudder. "I know. I shouldn't have hid it, but I did what I thought best. I never stopped looking."

"What?"

He gave a smile that barely lifted his lips. "They didn't say anything about me continuing to look into it."

"You went into my mother's murder on your own, again?" The smile left him and if it hadn't she'd have slapped it off. "Once again you go traipsing around in my past."

"Are you missing the part where they were going to kill you?"

"No," Kate said with a hard shake of her head. "I hear that part loud and clear. I also hear the part where you didn't let me decide on what to do with something dealing with my life."

"I couldn't lose you." Rick said, his voice finally taking on a defeated tone that Kate had to fight to keep from affecting her. He turned away, dropped his head to his hands and sighed.

"But I could lose you?" Kate asked as she reached over and pulled one of his hands away, squeezed it until he grimaced. "It was fine for you to risk your life?"

"I-"

"You didn't think about that, did you? You have a daughter, Rick. You have me. You didn't think that if you kept looking on your own that they'd kill you?"

"It... I didn't think too much about that. I mean... it was in the back of my head, but-"

"You're such a jackass." She threw his hand from her and stood. "I thought you changed, and maybe you have, but you're still so focused on what you want and thinking you're right."

"Kate-"

"No. Just stop, Rick. I'm sick of your reasons, your excuses for what you do. The playground is closed." She started to walk for the door when it slammed shut in front of her. She paused, looked over it and then turned around to find Rick against the window. Her two dead clones were attacking him with their hands. She gave a small gasp, ran forward and into a solid, but invisible, wall.

She fell on her back, gave a groan and then staggered to her feet, pressed her hands against the wall that separated her and Rick.

The sound of chewing and gnashing of teeth, even a small, painful groan came to her. She blinked away tears as the growls deepened and the moan of pain began to fade. Her dead clones were like wild animals, tearing at Rick.

"Stop it!" She yelled and Burke stood. His back was to her for a moment as he seemed to watch Rick being ripped into before he turned to her. "Let him go!"

"You've put up the walls, Kate. You've left him out for the monsters. Isn't that what you wanted?" Blood sprayed behind him across the walls and the window, blocking some of the orange light. "You're viscous when you want to be. I think that's something else we should work on."

"Rick!" She slammed the palm of her hands against the invisible wall and a part of her was glad that Burke blocked most of what they were doing to Rick. "Stop it!"

"Why don't you? You're the one cutting yourself off from him. Is what he did so wrong? You've hid things from him before, and he never shut you out."

"I didn't want him hurt."

"Your anger says different." Burke said and placed a hand against the wall where she had placed hers.

"He's right, you know. You have this wall around you so that no one can get close. Richard there has done better than most, but you still hold him out to the wolves for anything you can come up with." Weyer appeared from the darkness behind the couch and paused at it, stared at where Rick was. "Nasty bit of work, that."

"No, just leave us alone..."

"I didn't do anything here, Katherine. I just watched you have your way." Weyer walked toward her and came to rest on his umbrella in front of her. "Must say, this is one of Agrippa's better sets. Subtle. Simple."

"I'll get you back for this. Both of you."

"So you may, but we're doing this for you, doll-face. It's always been for the both of you."

"You've ruined everything."

Weyer made a tutting sound. "No, we merely sped up the growth of problems. They were there, seeds, but there and they'd have torn you apart."

It already had, she thought as she slid down to her knees. It had all fallen apart, her entire happy world with Rick had disintegrated. She placed her forehead to the wall she had built for herself and wished she could find a seam to tear it down.

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><p>As always a T-Rex sized thanks to ChrisS for beta reading this for me.<p> 


	9. You're A Violent Sort

**A/N:**

_The front door slammed and everyone in Xonze's office jump. Some of his readers began to stand as footsteps came up the stairs and then down the hall. They were heavy, thumping across the carpet in what sounded like a long stride. Finally the door to the office opened with a bang. A chorus of gasps sounded from inside the room and Xonze smiled at them. He looked like he'd been crawling through sewage… smelled a bit like it too._

_"Sorry for the delay. I was… withheld from coming back by some goblins in the Winterfang swamps. Apparently they wanted to ransom me… but Martin wouldn't do it so I had to escape on my own."_

_He walked to his desk and sat down in the chair. The readers closest to him moved their chairs back as much as they could. "Anyway, I will not be around for the weekend as I have some important matters to see too and as such this chapter will have to tide you over until Monday, at the earliest. I apologize, and while this isn't the best way for me to keep living, considering how this chapter ends, it's unavoidable. I hope you all enjoy this and have a wonderful weekend. If you'll excuse me I need about six showers with a fire-hose."_

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><p>Chapter 9<p>

**You're A Very Violent Sort**

The projector threw a square of blue across the wall that laid in front of Rick, blocked by a few tiny, flickering shadows. He blinked at the blur of light, moved to sit up and looked around, startled. Kate was nowhere near him even though he was still in the apartment. He sat on the couch they had both shared, but it had been moved to face the one blank wall of the room and on this wall a countdown began to play, each number followed by a beep.

The beep fell away, the film flickered and a flapping of plastic filled the room. He turned to look at the projector. It stood on a metal table, two reels spinning slowly atop it and the film seemed to thread itself back through the machine. Behind it the same orange light from before poured through the windows in tiny knife-like shafts.

"Rick, what are you doing?" He turned back to the wall and found Kate's face filling up the rounded corner frame the light made. Had everything that happened before been a dream? He could still feel the hands of her dead clones ripping at his skin, at his heart. The pain had become almost unbearable, but it hurt more because of what he did. He sighed, drew his lips in thin against his teeth as he watched Kate smile down at him.

"Where did you get that thing?" She asked with a laugh as she reached for the camera. The view suddenly moved back from Kate and she laughed again.

"She's quite beautiful." The voice came from beside him and Rick turned his head to find Thin Man sitting on a larger than normal chair, a cigarette hanging from his fingers. "I noticed that the first time I saw her. She has this... look about her. I can see why you fell for her, even with her rough personality."

"Where is she?"

"Where she always is. This isn't about her now, Richard. This is about you." Thin Man took a drag off the cigarette and blew smoke toward the wall, made the beam of the projector visible. "Do you ever think about how you see people, Richard?"

"What?"

"I mean, have you ever truly thought that maybe what you see when you look at her isn't who she really is? That maybe you've raised her up beyond any mortal girl?"

"If that's the case she rose herself there."

Thin Man shrugged. "There's my point. She isn't perfect, Richard."

"No, but neither am I."

"She pushed you away again."

"I deserved it." He believed it too. He hid information about her mother from her, and yes, while he had his reasons he knew nothing he could say would justify it. Hell, he still couldn't justify it to himself, other than to keep her safe. That's all he wanted, her safe and to be with him. Why was that such a bad thing?

He wondered if it just wasn't meant to be as he watched Kate laugh and back away from the camera, if... She wore a thin, white dress that shifted around her knees as she walked through a sun-drenched room. She looked stunning.

"What else do you wonder?"

"Huh?"

"You were thinking of something, but got distracted. What was it, Richard?"

"Why am I talking to you?"

"Because you have no one else." Rick could hear the humor in Thin Man's voice and shrugged.

"I wondered if anyone else had to go through so much. When is it our turn to be happy? Why can't we be happy?"

"Do you regret chasing her?"

Rick shook his head. "I regret putting her in danger."

"Her life is danger. You knew that going in, Richard."

He nodded. He knew when he got involved with her that his life would be threaded with worry, and he took that on as part of the package. She was her job as much as she was anything. She'd never stop, and neither would he. He made it through the days of worry by being with her, by being in a place where he could help if need be. He enjoyed it too, always had, but mostly because she was there.

What about her drew him in so much? He had the choice of just about any woman and yet Kate Beckett had stolen his heart the moment he began to work with her. She was a mystery.

"And you love mysteries." Thin Man said with a small laugh. Rick nodded and turned to watch the video. He recognized it now, it had been shot during their vacation. He had to work on her for almost a month to get her to commit the time to go away. They'd enjoyed themselves. The worries fell away along with the heat of an August slicked New York. She seemed more full of life then.

"You almost lost her."

"I did. I couldn't again."

"So, what are you going to do? Do you want my advice?" Thin Man asked and Rick looked over, narrowed his eyes. "No? Too bad. Walk away."

"Why?"

"Because she will be a cause of great pain for you, Richard. You think you hurt now? She'll do worse."

"It's worth it."

"Is it?" Thin Man turned his head to the wall. "In the end you'll kill each other. Father had seen it, yet he still went ahead and tried to help you."

"What are you talking about?" Rick asked and Thin Man nodded his large head at the wall. Rick turned, gave a frown as Kate sat on the bed, grinned at him as she laid back. The white dress laid loosely across her thin frame. Her hair haloed her head.

"So, what exactly are you planning to do with that camera on?" She asked him when he walked forward and could see her face again. Her expression was a mixture of sexy and humor. "Nothing bad, I hope."

"No," he heard himself say. "Just want to always remember this time."

The camera moved forward and Rick remembered straddling her and crawling forward so that he laid over her. She smiled up at the camera, and then broke out into a laugh when he began to tickle her side. "Stop it," she said over the giggle that rose from her.

"Stop what? Making you laugh?"

"Tickling me! I'll hurt you, Rick, if you don't stop!"

"You'd have to stop laughing first."

He could hear himself laughing as well. He remembered it was then that he dropped the camera to the side of the bed and they had made love late into the evening. The sex turned out to be even more amazing than usual. Getting away from it all seemed to have freed both of them. A new place with new possibilities, and more time to show how much they loved each other.

The video however didn't stop recording. He could hear voices in murmurs. Kate gasped, but it wasn't a pleasurable one. She coughed and her hand dropped off the edge of the bed, landed framed by the camera. The fingers convulsed once, twice, and then laid still. The next moment the camera was lifted from the floor and turned to the face of the Rick in the video.

Red specks lay over his face, his eyes full of tears, his entire face a mask of sadness. He sniffed back and refocused his eyes on the camera.

"You did this," the Rick on screen said and pointed at the camera. "Look at what you did, what she made you do." The camera turned noisily to show a body on the bed. The white dress that Kate wore laid tight against her skin, slicked with red. A knife stuck out from her side, the black handle a monolith on the landscape of fabric. She didn't breath, didn't move, just laid there. Still.

"That didn't happen." Rick said as he stood from the couch, walked to the image. As he made his way to the wall the frame froze, skewed and then burned away just before his hand could touch it. "We went out for dinner that night. That didn't happen."

"It didn't?"

"No." Rick said and stared at the white wall. He didn't-wouldn't kill her. The fear that she could die rode along with him like an unwelcome guest on every moment of his life, he wouldn't bring it into reality. Whatever fear he had of his own impulses, Kate would never be one of them.

"You're a wannabe." Thin Man said and stood, his chair squeaking. "You write about death-murder-because sometimes you wonder what it would be like."

"You don't know a damn thing about me." Rick turned around, found Thin Man in front of him, now blocking the projector's light.

"I know what goes on in that head of yours, Richard. Your books are fantasy, always have been. Nikki Heat is a fantasy of Katherine... the murders are a fantasy of your desires. You wonder how it would feel to take another life, to watch the life drain out of them. You imagine it, yourself in your murderer's shoes. You ask what would you have done, how would you have handled it. You enjoy the process of delving into the darkness." Thin Man paused, stood straight. "You've even thought of killing Katherine before."

"Wha-"

"You're telling me you never thought about it? When she made you angry? I know you have."

"Not seriously, I never thought of it seriously."

Thin Man canted his head, shrugged his boney shoulders. "It's one step closer. You want to kill me too."

"You're damn right I do." Rick said and he felt his hand shaking. God, he would love to just end this, get his revenge for all the problems that they caused him and Kate. All the hurt.

The feeling was almost overwhelming. He took a step back, tried to get ahold of himself. He wasn't a murder. He didn't need to or want to kill.

"You sound like you're trying to convince yourself. It's all right, Richard. Wanting to kill is as natural as breathing for humans. You're a very violent sort. Hell, you let your children watch murders and torture before they even know how they came to be in the world. You breed warriors and murderers."

"And what are you? You killed those kids, you've shown death and pain to both Kate and I. You're no better."

Thin Man's white face contorted in anger and his hand shot out, gripped Rick by the throat and lifted him up easily. "I'm not you. I'm nothing like you filth. I don't kill my kind for the joy of it, you people do."

"Stuck a nerve? You're not so different." Rick said through a closing airway.

Thin Man laughed. "Oh, very good. Very good, Richard." He dropped Rick to the floor and turned around, faced the window. "Do you still wonder where Katherine is?"

"Not here, which can't be a bad thing." Rick said through a fit of coughing on the floor. Thin Man nodded.

"Probably is a good thing, considering what you want to do to me. Here, Richard, here's a tool for you to enact your revenge." Thin man walked around the couch to the projector, picked up something from the cart and then threw it toward the wall. Rick looked up when he heard a thud and found a large knife stuck quivering in the plaster. It looked so much like the knife that had killed Kate that he didn't want to touch it. "Come on, Richard. Take it, you know you want to."

Rick stood, moved away from the knife. "I'm not a killer."

"You are. But maybe you need the right kind of convincing. Katherine is here, you know."

"What?"

"She's here, trapped in one of my plays. She is..." he paused his head moving as if he could see something that Rick couldn't. "She's not having a good time, in fact I believe she's crying just a bit right now. A strange sight, to be sure."

"Let her go."

Thin Man held out his long hands and shrugged. "Then come save her."

Rick turned his eyes to the knife and then to Thin Man, his mind working in overdrive. He wouldn't kill, not without a reason. Wasn't Kate a reason? A very damn good reason?

He reached out, touched the handle of the blade and felt a shock run down his hand like he had touched an electric fence. He wrapped his fingers around it and pulled it from the wall.

Thin Man moved back to stand by the door, and Rick could almost imagine him smiling. "Let her go, now."

"Kill me. That's the only way, Richard."

"You don't think I will?"

"No, I know you will, that's why I'm telling you to."

"Get out of my way."

"I'm not moving. You're running out of time, Richard."

Rick walked forward, the knife out in front of him. Part of him said to just back off, but a more powerful part, driven by anger, pushed his hand forward.

The knife went into Thin Man's torso, and then through. Rick fell forward and slipped through Thin Man like he was made of mist, but he found something solid on the other side.

The door had been opened. Thin Man had disappeared and what Rick landed on was Kate. She stood in the hallway, her hands against his chest.

"Rick?" She said, but his name came out in a gasp. It took a moment for him to get over the shock but when he did, when he looked down, he saw what happened. The black handle stuck from Kate's side, a blossom of red beginning to spread around it.

Kate's eyes were wide as she too looked down and then looked back to Rick, fell against him.

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><p>As always a Pacific ocean sized thanks to ChrisS for her help with this chapter. :D<p> 


	10. She's Down In The Morgue On A Slab

**A/N:**

_Xonze's readers filed into his study. They looked a little tired, a little bored perhaps. He had just the thing for them. _

_"Good to see you are all doing well." He said as he leaned back into his chair. "Again, I apologize for leaving you dangling from a cliff all weekend, but my business is done, for now at least. I am also trying to catch up on some writing, so there may be another delay or two in the coming week, but no more than a day between chapters if things go as planned."_

_Xonze sat up and opened his laptop. He could see over the top of it that his readers were already anxious to know what happen to Kate. Good, because that was exactly where he wanted them. "This isn't a creepy chapter… Well, not completely creepy and a good thing happens in it, so that should make you all a little happy. I do hope you enjoy and I may see you tomorrow."_

_He hit the post button and then stood, picked up his hat from the desk. "Now, I'm off to the Bone-Dance that the skeletons are holding in the graveyard. When you finish you're more than welcome to join me. I hear it's going to be a rattling good time."_

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><p>Chapter 10<p>

**She's Down In The Morgue On A Slab**

A moth fought in one of the buzzing florescent lights above Rick. He stared at it, his eyes beginning to hurt from the starkness of the light. It fluttered about behind the textured plastic, fighting to escape.

Rick looked down to his hands, gave a frown at the cuffs around his wrists and the chain that ran from them to the table. He then let his gaze travel down to himself, found he wore a white button up shirt and black pants. He sighed and looked about the room. He didn't know where he was, but he remembered what had happened.

He stabbed Kate.

It was an accident, he told himself. He held her for a time, his eyes closed, crying. When he opened them again all he could see was the shadow of the moth on the table and then slowly, the rest of the room came into focus.

A door to his right, that hadn't been there a moment ago, opened with the loud click of locks. He turned to see Kate walk in, dressed in a purple button down shirt and black pants. Her hair was different, shorter this time. It reminded him of how she had worn her hair when they first met.

"Mr. Castle?" She said as she kicked out the chair and slid into it. She dropped the folder she had been carrying to the table. When he didn't answer she turned her gaze up to him, her eyes narrowed. "Mr. Castle?"

"Kate?"

"You can call me Detective Beckett, Mr. Castle." She said and flipped open the folder.

"What's going on?" His stomach began to sink and he couldn't help but feel a little sick. He knew this couldn't be real, but at the same time he began to question what was real and what wasn't. It almost felt like his entire life for the past three or so years had been a dream.

She smiled thinly as she opened the folder. "That's what I would like to know. Do you know why you're here?"

"I have no idea where here is." He said with a quick search of the room before he looked back to her. The shadow of the moth had moved so that it laid across the papers of the folder. She didn't seem to notice.

She reached down and picked out a photo from the folder. "Katherine Beckett. NYPD Homicide, Detective. You know her?"

"She's you..." He said as he reached out to the photo. The Kate in the picture looked a little older than the one that sat across from him. It looked like the Kate he had seen only a few hours ago, long hair and all.

"She's dead." She said and dropped another photo over the first. This one showed Kate laying in a pool of her own blood, the knife handle casting a long shadow across her body. "Do you know her or not?"

"I... yes."

"Intimately?"

"She's dead?"

"Yes. Were you two intimate?"

Rick swallowed and dropped his head. He couldn't look at her anymore. His head began to ache and he blinked against the glare form the light. The moth shadow had moved back over to him.

"Mr. Castle. Please, answer the question."

"We love each other." He said through a closing throat. "I didn't kill her."

"No? Then maybe you'd like to tell me who did." He looked up to see Kate again, this time she was a little older, her hair a little longer. "Because from where I stand it looks like it was you, Castle."

"What am I doing here?" He asked after a moment and turn to face her head on. "And the real question is: what are you doing here?"

"I work here, Castle. It's my job to be here and to put people like you in a cage."

"People like me? I didn't kill anyone."

"Evidence says you did." Rick turned to look at the door which had snapped open. He found himself there, wearing a blue sweater and jeans. "Don't think you'll be able to talk your way out of this one, Writer Boy."

"Ha-ha, funny. Thin Man, let's stop this shit." Rick said and faced up to the light again. "Where's Kate. I know she's still alive."

"Alive? She's down in the morgue on a slab, Castle." Kate said and produced another picture, slid it toward him. "A knife to the gut can do that to someone."

"Then why are you sitting across from me?" Rick asked as his twin sat down beside Kate.

"Because I'm not her." She tapped the picture and Rick looked down. He felt his stomach heave as he stared at the body of Kate. She wore a white dress, just like in the film. They hadn't removed the knife before they took the picture. "You like your handy work?"

"It doesn't make sense." Rick said as he looked up. His twin tilted his head.

"Of course it makes sense. Come on, Rick, you're a writer, start putting the pieces together. She made you mad, was going to leave you maybe? You couldn't deal with that, and it isn't like you haven't killed before."

Kate nodded along and picked up the folder and read, "October 27th. You killed another Kate Beckett in a hallway. You have a thing for women named Kate, Castle?"

Rick closed his eyes, took a deep breath. He needed a way out of here. He knew-no matter what they were saying-that Kate was still alive. He just had to find her. "No, just a thing for one woman named Kate. You're not her."

He wasn't surprised to find that when he opened his eyes she had changed again. Her hair now framed her face in curls of brown. She, again, looked slightly older and bit closer to the Kate he'd spent the past year with. She wasn't though, just something wearing her face.

"No, I'm not. He isn't you either." She nodded over to his twin. "We're different, we aren't murderers. You enjoy killing, don't you?"

Rick smiled. "You're right, you're not Kate. She'd never be so off based."

"Off base? You killed her, Castle. You shoved a knife into her and we found you holding her body. Don't try to B.S. your way out of this. You aren't that good of a storyteller."

"I want to see her."

"No."

"Why are we doing this, Kate? You say you know I killed her and yet here we are."

"Because I want to hear why." She said as she tapped a nail on the table. "I want to know what made you the way you are. What changed, Rick? Or have you always been a murderer?"

"Of fictional characters, sure. I've never killed someone. Is this about me writing about death in my books? Is that what worries you, Kate?"

"It worries me," his twin said and leaned forward. "Why write about things like that? Isn't there enough pain and death in the world already?"

Rick sighed, sat back and went to run a hand through his hair but the handcuffs stopped him. "Because it scares the hell out of me."

"Explain," Kate said as she crossed her arms. "What does?"

"People I care about dying. Life being stolen too soon. I write so that maybe I could understand how someone could kill someone else. What goes through their mind when they do it. To get inside their head. To understand what I fear."

"So you finally got trapped in the head of one of your killers?"

Rick gave a half smile. "You do the same."

"No I don't."

"Sure you do, you think like a killer. You break down their methodology, you place yourself in the shoes of the killer so that you can track them down. You think I have murderous tendencies because of my books? You must be a closet psychopath." Rick placed his hands on the table, stared at Kate as her gaze went to his twin beside her. "But see... I know you're not. You don't enjoy being there. What makes you think I do?"

"Because you go willingly and spend days writing out the thoughts of your killer, living in his shoes." His twin said.

"So does Kate. My killers never get away with it. They are always caught and made to pay. While I may spend time with them while writing they are always locked away in the end."

"But they could escape, like they did earlier with Katherine." Kate said with a nod to the photo on the table.

"As they could with anyone." Rick said with a sad look. "I know she isn't dead. I was tricked before, and her being stabbed had been an accident, but I didn't kill her. I would never intentionally hurt her."

"Why?"

"Because she means the world to me."

Kate stared at him for a long moment, her jaw working as she seemed to consider what he said. She stood quickly which made Rick shift back, though the chain kept him from going too far. He watched her produce a key from her pocket and she bent over the table, undid the padlock that held the chain to the table. She then slid the chain out from between the handcuffs and dropped it too the floor.

"You want to see her? Fine. We'll go right now." She turned to his twin. "Stay next to him, and if he tries to bolt use this." She handed over a taser and Rick's twin looked like a kid on Christmas morning. He then walked around the table and took hold of Rick's arm, pulled him to his feet.

Kate took the lead through the door, the hallway dark and ominous. Rick followed, his twin gripped his arm painfully, but Rick didn't fight it. He wanted to see Kate again. His Kate.

At the end of the hall there stood a light, this too had something in it, jumping in the light, it's winged shadow a stark black shape on the red, threadbare carpet. Kate paused under it, the shadow playing over her body, dappling her with light.

"In here," she said and pointed toward an old wood door that had been painted brown at one point, but now looked grey and sickly. She grasped the knob, turned it. A brightly lit room showed on the other side. Rick was shoved in and he stumbled to a stop in the first circle of light and looked around.

Moths. Everywhere he looked he found more. They were pinned to boards that hung on the walls or stuck beneath the glass and plastic of light fixtures, their shadows dancing over the tile. He had never seen so many types of the insect, but his curiosity disappeared when he found a table in the middle of the room. Something laid on top of it, covered by a plastic sheet. He could make out features and frame. It was Kate lying there.

He made his way up to the table, his legs felt like lead, his heart an anchor. If he did kill her he didn't want to see her dead. He couldn't deal with seeing her gone again. He'd seen it once in the ambulance, the life draining out of her. She died in the back of that thing and only by the skill of many doctors did she come back. There wasn't any coming back from this if she'd been put on a table.

The lamp above the table trailed blue light across the plastic and over the floor, bathed the area in horror movie shadow. He touched the table, hands shaking and looked down.

He found a moth on the head, its wings flexing, and he felt another wave of sickness as he saw the its back.

Death's Head.

The markings on the back of the insect were vivid white and in the shape of a skull. He went to move it and it shuttered, a squeak escaping it, the sound like a gun went off in the room. Rick jerked back as if he'd been stung and stared at it.

"Rick?" He turned at the voice and stared disbelievingly at the woman who stood behind him. "Rick, don't touch the cover."

"Is that really you, or is this another game, Kate?"

"Would you believe me if I said I'm real?"

"I don't know, try it." She walked forward out of the darkness. She looked fine, save for red eyes which she wiped at with the heel of her left hand.

"I'm not one of Thin Man's characters."

"How'd you get here?"

"Same way you did. I'm so sorry."

"What for?"

She dropped to the ground and brought her knees up, her arms going around her legs. She placed her mouth to the back of her knees and gave a small snort as she sniffed back her running nose and blinked away the beginnings of tears. "I couldn't stop them... I thought they had killed you."

He moved to her, stopped to wonder if it was another trick and continued forward anyway. He knelt down beside her. She started to cry, not full out sobs, but the tears came thick and fast and left trails along her cheeks. He reached out and wiped a few away with his thumb. She looked up to him, her bloodshot eyes swimming in tears.

"You're real, right?" She asked, her voice muffled by her pants. She reached out with a hand, pressed his to her cheek. He nodded and offered a small smile.

"I'm real. It wasn't your fault." He wanted to gather her up in a hug, to just hold her tight and never let go, but a tip of fear still sat lodged in the back of his mind and stayed his movements. "Where have you been?"

"Watching," she said faintly and blew out a heavier sigh. "I couldn't do anything, Rick. I was put in a room with a projector and all I could do was watch what you went through." Her hand squeezed his almost painfully. "I'm so sorry."

He moved to her now, burying that fear from before and gathered her into a tight hug. She went lax in his arms, her own wrapping lazily around his shoulders. He closed his eyes and just held her.

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><p>Thanks to ChrisS who went through this chapter and kicked out all the bad stuff.<p> 


	11. We're Not Married, Castle

**A/N:**

_The shades were all drawn in Xonze's study, giving the room a gloomy feel. The readers found Xonze in his chair, his head back with a towel resting on his forehead. He had his eyes closed but didn't open them when they entered. _

_"Leave the lights off." He said, his voice groggy. "I got the mother of all headaches… I have no idea what they spiked their punch with at the Bone-Dance, but it's knocked me pretty good."_

_He reached out and pushed the laptop across his desk. "Could one of you post the story for me? I can't even look at a screen right now."_

_A reader stood and opened the laptop and posted it. "Thanks. So, things are a little better in this chapter, our favorite duo talk and air out some grievances. I hope you enjoy this chapter and I shall be seeing you again soon."_

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><p>Chapter 11<p>

**We're Not Married, Castle**

Kate woke up in Rick's arms. It had become a familiar, safe feeling over the last year and she rolled over so that she could see him when she opened her eyes. She did it slowly because she couldn't help the little bit of fear that cropped up, the fear that it wouldn't be him holding her or that they would still be stuck in that starkly lit room with the dead body and moths.

She had looked under the sheet when she first arrived and found Rick underneath, dead from a gunshot wound. She backed away, stumbled to the ground and stayed in the darkness, unable to move. When Rick came in she couldn't have described her relief.

Opening her eyes she found her vision filled with his face and she couldn't help but smile. His eyes were closed, his brow down and his lips lax. He wasn't drooling or snoring, which was always a good thing. He still seemed to be dreaming though and it didn't look like he enjoyed it all that much. She reached out, ran her fingers up and along his shoulder and then slid her hand up under his jaw, stroked his cheek with her thumb a few times. He needed to shave.

He woke slowly. When he opened his eyes she could still see the fog of sleep in them, but it cleared when his blue irises locked on her. "Kate?" He breathed out and pulled her into a tight hug. She gasped at the sudden movement, but pressed herself against him. "I'm sorry." He paused, kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry."

"Rick..." she pushed back against him so that she could see his face and gave a frown. "We need to talk."

She saw fear and worry break through on his face for a moment before they were buried under a mask of indifference. She sighed and sat up, looked around where they laid. The room looked like a bomb had gone off. Graffiti of half naked women and crude slogans littered the walls in rainbow colors of paint. The furniture laid broken or destroyed, pieces of it laying against walls. Trash littered the ground so that the tan rug became a tapestry of bottles and paper and giant stains of indescribable color.

They were lying on an old mattress and when she looked down at it she tried her best not to think of what had been done on it in the past, or what lived on it now. She got to her feet, brushed off her jacket and pants and looked around once more to the room because she couldn't look at him. She still felt annoyed that he hid things from her, but she didn't seem able to work up any real anger over it. That didn't mean she didn't want to rip him apart over it.

Hadn't she already? Her mind went back to what happened in the room not too long ago. It was the same room, she could see the windows, the layout, but the couch and orange light were no where to be found. The rain pounding on the windows and the roof a couple floors above made the entire room feel gloomy, dangerous. She wanted nothing more than to leave, but instead she turned around, crossed her arms and stared down at Rick who still sat on the mattress with his feet on the floor.

"Rick?" She asked and he didn't look up. His hands were working over each other mercilessly, the skin turning red. She wanted to reach down and stop him, but she didn't think he'd let her. "Rick, please... look at me?"

He did so with a gaze that tore into her like the claws of a kitten who didn't realize what it was doing. She tightened her arms at her stomach and took control of her face, blanked it. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I couldn't."

"Why?"

"I told you," he didn't raise his voice, but the tone became clipped. "I couldn't lose you. I did what I did to keep you safe... that's all I ever wanted. I know you, Kate. I know what you would have done if I told you I had received a phone call, you'd have hunted him down."

"You're damn right I would have." She said, her voice jumping to a shout and he dropped his head at it. "It's my mother's case, Rick. I deserved to know."

"It hasn't just been your case for a long time, Kate." He said and when she went to argue he stood, towered over her for a moment before his shoulders slouched. "Your problems and troubles are mine, just as mine are yours."

"We're not married, Castle." She hadn't meant to use his last name, it just slipped out. It did its damage anyway; she could see that much on his face. She wanted to take it back, wanted them to be able to go back to how they were before this all started. They couldn't though, and she didn't want this secret between them any longer. It would have torn them apart before, and maybe would have in the future. Maybe it still would... she didn't know.

"No. No, we're not. But that doesn't change that I love you."

"If you loved me th-" She stopped because he kissed her. It wasn't gentle like many of the kisses they shared, this one came heavy and hot and greedy. She tried not to kiss back as she still felt annoyed at him, but his lips wouldn't take no for an answer. She bit hard on his lower lip as if in protest. It didn't seem to bother him as he gripped her upper arms and pulled her to him. Her head bent back and she felt off-balance, his hands the only thing keeping her upright.

When he broke away her lips felt almost numb and she reached up and touched them with the tips of her fingers for a moment before she could look at him. His face still hid all its emotion, but his eyes were on her, boring through her and she had to take a step back. "Please don't question if I love you. I don't think I could take that from you. You can beat on me, break some bones if that would make you feel better, but don't question if I love you."

She shifted her weight away from him, her fingers still hovering above her lips. She turned to the room because she didn't want to see the way he stared at her, it weakened her knees, made her stomach flip and flop like a kid on a trampoline. She needed a moment to compose herself but he didn't give it to her as he walked over and took her hands into his, forced her to look at him. She blinked a few times, felt her hands tremble slightly.

"I'm sorry. I can't say it any other way. I'm sorry. I went about it wrongly maybe, but I did what I thought best. Yes, it probably wasn't my place... but Kate you know you wouldn't have cared if there were a hundred arm guards around the guy and you were shot a thousand times, you would keep going after him."

"You shouldn't have kept it from me."

"I was going to tell you."

"When?"

He sighed and she watched him run a hand through his hair. Motes of dust danced around him like snow as he moved away from her and to the window. "When I had something concrete to go to you with."

"And a guy calling you isn't?"

He turned, shook his head. "I don't know who he is, I don't know what role he's playing. Kate, I don't even know why he's trying to keep you safe, other than he was a friend of Montgomery. He told me if you kept looking you would die." He walked to where the kitchen would have been and placed his hands on the broken counter. "As soon as I found anything solid I was going to tell you."

"It was a lead though."

"It was nothing Kate, a whisper in the wind. Is your mother's murder worth dying over?"

She felt like she'd be hit with a brick. "I will find out who ordered her to be killed, whether you help me or not."

"I didn't say I wouldn't be with you. I asked if solving this case was worth dying over. I don't think it is. I don't think it's worth losing you, Kate. I want you to find your justice, but not at the cost of everything."

"It's my life."

"No, it's our life." He reached out, pulled her into another hug and just held her tight. She could feel his heart thudding against his chest and felt her own speed up. She loved this man for reasons she couldn't explain and she would do anything to keep him. Was it so wrong for him to do the same? She sighed against his chest, brought her arms up and around his waist.

"No more secrets, Rick. I won't promise that I won't want to go find them, but I'll do my best to listen to you."

"Promise me that we'll do this together and that we'll listen to each other."

She squeezed him. "I promise that'll I'll do my best. I want them Rick. I want them to pay so bad."

"They will, Kate. You can count on that." He said against her hair and kissed the top of her head. "But we have some immediate problems we need to take care of."

"Thin Man and Weyer?"

"They're trying to tear us apart." He released her, took a step back. "I need something from you."

"Anything."

"Tell me you don't believe I could kill anyone."

She gave a faint smile. "Please. You can't even manage killing a spider in the bathroom."

"Kate."

"I don't believe it, Rick. Not for a minute. He rattled me before and I wasn't thinking clearly. I'm sorry I even brought it up in the first place."

"Okay. So what now?" He turned in place, took in the apartment and gave a sigh.

"Now... I don't know." She looked down at her watch and gave a small gasp. "It's seven in the morning?"

He checked his own watch. "The ghosts! They did it all in one night!"

"Seriously... not now Scrooge." She didn't try to fight the smile as she took her phone from her pocket. "I better let Ryan and Esposito know we're okay before they pitch a fit."

"What I want to know is why."

"Why I'm calling them?"

"No, why this Thin Man and Weyer are trying to drive a wedge between us? A year ago he did everything he could to get us together and now they want us apart?"

"I don't understand it, other- Hey Ryan." She walked toward the window and peered out the blinds. The rain came down in horizontal sheets that blurred the building across the street. "No, we're fine. Did Perlmutter find out anything? He did? Great. I'll be there in about half an hour."

She hung up the phone and turned to Rick. "Perlmutter found something."

"And what was that?"

"Ryan wouldn't say, just that it's a pretty big break and they think they know who the killer is." She went to move for the door but when Rick didn't follow she paused and looked back. "What?"

"I have a bad feeling about this." Rick slipped his hands into his pockets. "I feel like I'm in an episode of the Twilight Zone."

She laughed as she came back to him and slipped her arm around his. "I was thinking more along The Outer Limits, but Twilight Zone isn't too far off. Maybe they're done with us and that's why we have a lead on the murder."

"You think it would be that simple?"

She shrugged and pulled him out of the room. The hallway they stepped into was torn up like the rest of the building. It seemed like everything had returned to normal. How did Weyer do it? Was it a drug, or were they actually being dragged into other places? She didn't know which one she wanted to be true more.

They walked out of the building arm in arm. The rain had stopped, the concrete and roads sparkling with the faint light of early morning. The air had a chill to it but Kate didn't find it unpleasant, in fact she welcomed the breeze and the bite of it. It made her feel a little more alive and chased away the worry and fear for a moment.

When she got into the car she put the window down slightly so she could enjoy the breeze all the way back.

"Think we could grab something to eat on the way?" Rick asked as she pulled out into traffic. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

"All right, we can pick up coffee for the boys too."

Rick pointed out a coffee shop and Kate pulled over and stayed in the car. Ten minutes later Rick came back out holding a bag and a tray of coffee. She reached across the seats and popped the door open for him. He gave a small smile as he sat the tray on the console and dug into the bag.

"A bear claw for you," he said and bypassed her extended hand and held it to her lips. She gave a small shake of her head before she bit into it and pulled it from his hand. "And a sausage biscuit for me."

Kate bit off a chunk of the doughnut and swallowed. "I get a doughnut and you get breakfast?"

"What? You never like this stuff."

"Because it's going to give you a heart attack one of these days." She said and took another bite of doughnut.

"That doughnut isn't made of salad either."

"All right... I want a piece of that." She said as she eyed the sandwich while starting the car.

"No way, you got yours."

She broke off a piece of her doughnut and held it out to him. He gave a frown at it and then tore off a large chunk of his sandwich and they traded. She smiled and popped the chunk in her mouth before pulling back into traffic.

They reached the station about seven minutes later. She parked the car and Rick took the coffees and handed her one as they walked into the lobby. The elevator was empty when the got to it, just as well, Kate thought as she took a long sip. She was a bit too tired to deal with anyone else at the moment.

When the doors opened she was a little surprised to see Ryan and Esposito standing there. Behind them were about three uniforms and Captain Gates. She cocked an eyebrow at them, but they didn't look at her, their focus was on Rick.

"What's going on, guys?" Kate asked. Their reply came in the form of grabbing Rick and shoving him against the wall. The three coffees splattered to the ground, their brown liquid pooling on the tile floor. "What the hell are you two doing?"

"Richard Castle, you're under arrest for the murders of Samuel Watson, Sandra Pike, and Kelly Wolf." Ryan said as the click of handcuffs hit Kate like a wrecking ball.

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><p>As always a Jupiter sized thanks to ChrisS for beta reading this for me.<p> 


	12. Wait For A Minute

**A/N:** Breaking character for a minute to apologize for the long delay. I got completely blocked on this story and I wasn't sure where to go with it when I got to this point. It wasn't that I didn't have ideas, but I had so many that I wasn't sure which one worked the best (so I was a bit like a deer in headlights...). But, the story is finished. There are about two more chapters after this one. Thank-you to everyone that's been reading and I, again, am sorry to keep you all waiting. I hope you enjoy.

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><p>Rick couldn't stop moving. He paced the small cell, pausing a few times to stare out at the white window that was set high in the wall. He'd spent time in cells before but never for something like this. They thought he murdered those kids.<p>

The sound of the gate opening drew him to the bars. He hadn't seen anyone in the past hour and would welcome talking to anyone, even another inmate. A shadow played on the floor and he watched it grow smaller as it came toward his cell.

Kate appeared from the corner. She kept her distance from the cell and stared at him through the bars, her expression reminding him of a china doll, stoic but fragile. She had her arms crossed and then dropped her head with a heavy breath.

"Kate…"

"Wait for a minute."

"But Kat—"

"Castle. Wait." She looked up and her expression made him slink back from the bars and to stand in the middle of the square of light. He tried to not let it hurt, but the pain grew despite his best effort. He wanted to ask her why. He wanted to know what was going on, but most of all he wanted her to tell him that she knew he didn't do it.

"Mr. Castle." Captain Gates walked into view, a small smile on her red lips. "I can't say it's a surprise to see you behind bars. It suites you."

"I didn't kill anyone."

Gates shrugged and blocked his view of Kate. "See, I have a dilemma here. Either you killed them—which to be honest wouldn't surprise me in the least—and myself and one of my detectives missed it; or, there is something strange going on and you're being framed. While I don't like the first option as it puts us in a very, very bad light," she turned to glare at Kate for a moment. "The second seems like a fairy-tale."

"I didn't, couldn't have killed them. I was with Kate the entire day." He walked to the bars, clasped them tightly in both hands. "It has to be a mistake."

"You'd be amazed to know how often I've heard that. But… your alibi comes very well vetted. Still, love does blind us sometimes." She shook her head and her shoulders dropped from their ridged stance and she turned to face the corridor. "Detective Beckett has requested to talk to you. You've already been read your rights and they still apply here for anything you tell her. I'd suggest you get a good lawyer, Mr. Castle. You just may need it."

She stalked off, her heels clicking loudly on the concrete floor. Rick turned from it and to Kate who was watching Gates go. The wire mesh door slammed closed and the next moment Kate was at the bars, reaching through and touching his face with shaking hands. "I'm sorry. I didn't want you to say anything before she came in."

"What's going on, Kate?" He reached up and pressed his hand against hers, glad for the warmth and comfort it offered. He turned and kissed her palm and waited for a response. Her features went from hopelessness to sadness in one smooth movement. "It's bad, isn't it?"

"Pretty bad, yeah."

"What's the evidence?" She shifted on her feet and looked down both ends of the hall before she placed her forehead against one of the bars. He mirrored her.

"Fingerprints. Fibers. They found the murder weapon in the attic, a sharks tooth like Perlmutter said. It had your fingerprints on it as well."

"I didn—"

She placed her thumb to his lips which stopped him. "I know you didn't. I _know._ I just have to prove it now, Rick. You trust me to do that, don't you?"

"I trust you with my life."

"Then I'm getting you a lawyer. I can't work the case directly, not with you in it, but Ryan and Esposito have taken over, and I'm 'helping' them. In a few minutes they are going to bring you in for interrogation. Don't say a damn word to them until your lawyer shows."

"Great, they seemed pretty sure I did it with how they manhandled me."

"Come on bro, Gates was there." Kate jumped back from the bars and Esposito appeared from beyond the wall and came to stand next to her. "We had to make it look good."

"I think I got a couple of bruises from that 'show'."

"Just imagine what those uniforms would have done." He said and gave a small grin which lasted only a moment before his gaze turned to Kate. "Beckett, I need to take him in now. You sure you want to watch this?"

Kate nodded. "I'm sure."

"All right." He motioned to the guard at the end of the hall. He came down, unlocked the cell and Esposito reached in and pulled Rick out. They walked out, Esposito's hand biting into Rick's arm and Kate walked on the other side of him.

They hurried toward the interrogation room, and Rick couldn't help but notice all the eyes on him. They hurt, the judging looks, but it was the ones filled with pity and disbelief that bothered him the most. Things would never be the same here, even if he was proven innocent

When, not if. He glanced over to Kate at the thought. She wouldn't let him fall, wouldn't let him be convicted of something he didn't do. He also knew that their would be no trial if she believed he did do it, she'd carry out the execution herself.

They took him into the room, but Kate stopped at the threshold. Ryan was already there, sitting at the table, his expression unreadable. Esposito told Rick to sit and took the chair beside his partner. Rick did as he was told, sat in a chair that felt alien to him. He found Kate still at the door, she drew her lips thin and then turned and left, probably for the observation room.

"Mr. Castle, you know why you're here, don't you?" Ryan said as he placed his hands on the table and folded them.

"Not especially, other than I'm accused of murdering three kids that I didn't even know about until you called."

"Can you explain why we found your fingerprints on the murder weapon?" Esposito asked as he lifted an evidence bag up and laid it in front of Rick. Inside was a large sharks tooth attached to what looked like a stick. "Or why there were fibers from a pair of jeans that lay in the bottom of your closet attached to the sweater of one of the vics? Or, why said pair of jeans have trace evidence of blood on them?"

"You searched my place?" Rick couldn't help but feel a little stunned at the idea.

"We got a warrant." Ryan said.

"Of course you did. I didn't kill them."

"Evidence speaks, Mr. Castle."

"Esposito, I didn't kill them."

Esposito turned to his partner for only a moment, his face a mixture of belief and annoyance. Rick knew they didn't think he actually did it, and that made his heart beat a little slower and his stomach stopped its flipping like a short-order cook was going at it. He leaned forward.

"Something is going on here guys, something that you wouldn't believe if I told you, but I know you don't think I killed those kids."

"Where were you at 6 pm on October 28th?" Ryan asked.

"At home."

"Have anyone that can confirm that?"

"Yes, Kate Beckett."

"And what were you and Detective Beckett doing at the time?" Esposito asked.

Rick narrowed his eyes at the two detectives who actually looked very uncomfortable. "We were spending time with each other as we had just finished working here on a case. We left here a little after four. Went home, ate dinner and she read a work in progress of my new book. I was in her sight all night."

"Mr. Castle, I would love to believe that, but just the word, even of a Detective, means little in the face of the evidence and—"

"Good morning, Gentlemen." All three turned to look at the door that had snapped open. The person that stood in the doorway made Rick get to his feet, ready to pounce. "I'm afraid my client isn't going to be answering anymore of your questions at this time, at least not until I speak to him."

It was Weyer.

Rick almost rushed him, only Ryan and Esposito being there stayed him. They were both looking at him, Esposito with a cocked eyebrow.

"Now, if you would excuse us, I'd like to consult with him at this moment." Weyer walked to the table, placed his briefcase on it and then clicked it open.

Ryan and Esposito shared a glance, looked back to Rick and then they both stood, exited the room. Weyer watched them go and then rounded the table, sat across from Rick and gave him a small smile as he folded his hands.

"How are you, Richard."

"You're lucky there are cameras in here."

Weyer lifted his brow and turned to look at the camera in the corner and then turned the other way to see the mirror. "Yes, it does look like we have an audience. You seemed to have gotten yourself in a bit of trouble, Richard."

"She knows I didn't do it."

"Does she?"

"Yes." Weyer gave him a half grin.

"Good, then progress is being made." He reached into his briefcase and brought out a piece of paper. "So she trusts you, correct?"

"Seems that way."

"And you trust her, of course." He looked up from the paper and waited for an answer.

"More than anyone. Look, what is it you want? What will this prove?"

He made a note on the paper and then turned it around, pushed it toward him. "I need you to sign this."

"No way."

"Now Richard, just read it. I know you'll want to sign it once you do that." He pushed a sleek black pen over as well. Rick looked down at the sheet, began to read it as the door snapped open. They both looked over to find Kate breathing heavily as she stepped in. She stalked across the room after slamming the door and practically pushed Weyer out of the chair.

"You son-of-a-bitch. What the hell are you doing here?" Weyer stumbled to his feet and then straightened his jack with a quick tug on the ends.

"I thought I'd be able to hide my presence here, but it seems not. Good morning, Katherine."

"I'm going to kill you after you give me what I need to clear Rick's name."

"Could you love him if he was a killer?"

Kate laughed, but it was bitter and cold. "I'm not playing this game with you anymore. We're done. Rick and I will be together, or we won't. It's not your concern."

Weyer held up a finger. "Ah, that is where you're wrong, my dear. It's all our concern. It isn't just me trying to keep you two together. Theres a greater force at work here than just me."

"I don't care if it's the entire universe, we don't need it."

"Kate." Rick said as he stood. He could see she was about to slam Weyer into the wall. "Take a breath."

"No, Rick— Goddammit, I'm tired of these bastards showing us dead over and over again. I can't— I can't take it again. We'll get together, be together when it's right for us, not when he says." She kicked at the table as tears slipped free from her eyes, but her face remained stone. "This is just a game to you," she shoved her finger against Weyer's shoulder, "isn't it? Just something to pass the time with, right? Well guess what, Rick and I are taking our ball and going home, and you should to."

"Very well. Though, I'm waiting on something."

Kate crossed her arms and stared at Weyer, a few tears still working their way down her cheek. Rick wanted to go to her, wanted to wipe them away, but he wanted to keep living a bit more. So instead he stayed where he was and looked down to the table. He found the piece of paper that Weyer had placed in front of him and picked it up, read it.

"Kate…"

"What?" She turned on him, her anger softening some. "What, Rick?"

"I think you should read this." She scowled and then snatched the paper from his hand, read it quickly. She looked up, her eyes wide and then turned to Weyer.

"What is this?"

"You read it, you tell me." Weyer said with a shrug. Rick stood up and rounded the table, came up beside her.

"What's the catch?" Kate asked.

"No catch. Agrippa has seen what he wanted. So have I. I have my own obligations, though I do enjoy what I do, but making sure you two do okay is part of that."

"Obligations to whom?" Rick asked.

"Can't tell you, but I will say that if you sign that and hold to it you shall never see me or Agrippa again."

Rick turned to Kate and then back to the paper. It was a simple paragraph, but if it would make it so that they were left alone, then it would be worth it.

"No." Kate said and Rick looked over, gave a frown as she tore the page in half. "I'm not signing anything dealing with you. Get out."

"But—"

"No, Weyer. This is Rick's and my life, not anyone else's. We move at our pace, and we'll fight and argue, but we'll work it out. I don't need you to hurt him for me to care. Yes, I have things I'm dealing with, and so does he and we'll get through it like we always have. Together. Not because you're pushing things out in the open that we aren't ready to deal with."

Weyer gave a slim smile and shrugged. "Very well, then I can't promise that Agrippa won't show up again."

"You better. Now get out."

"You two continue to surprise." He said and walked to the door, paused at the threshold and looked back. "In a good way, I mean. One question before I go."

"What's that?" Kate asked and stepped in front of Rick. Rick for his part placed a hand to her side and pushed her over gently.

"Did you at any point this morning believe that Rick killed those children?"

"No."

He searched her, his eyes wandering over her face and body and then he smiled fully. "Then we _have_ made some progress, haven't we? And I have one question for you, Richard."

"You said only one and you'll go."

"Yes, but I'm amending that at the moment, Katherine." He turned his attention to Rick. "Will you answer my question?"

"If it'll get you to leave."

"It very well may. Richard, do you believe that Katherine will leave you still? That she doesn't have her heart in it completely?"

Rick looked over to her, over her face and then shook his head. "No, she's in this with me, whether it works out or not is something else, but we're both giving it our best try."

"Good," Weyer said and walked to the door. "Then Richard, I believe you will be cleared of all charges." He slammed the door behind him, the sound knocking them both off their feet and to the ground, their world turning white.

* * *

><p>Thanks as always to the vastly awesome ChrisS, who beta read this for me, and put up with waiting for me to finish.<p> 


	13. I Just Had A Creepy Thought

**A/N: **

_The sun shined through the large arch windows behind Xonze in tiny white shafts. It felt like ages since the last time he had felt sunlight and he turned around, basked in it for a moment until he heard the door to his study creak open. He swiveled around to find his readers entering slowly, as if this place was new to them. _

_"Good afternoon, my friends." Xonze said and motioned toward the chairs that were lined up in front of his desk. "It's been awhile, which as mentioned before I am very sorry about. You won't have to wait again though, as we're almost done."_

_A few of his readers gave a frown as they sat and he had to smile. It was always a little sad when you knew something was coming to an end soon. "Things shouldn't be too scary from now on, actually I have a pretty large surprise for you at the end, which I'm hoping you'll all enjoy. Anyway, on—"_

_A chorus of thuds sounded from above them and Xonze turned a glare to the ceiling. "It seems Alfred is hungry."_

_"Who's Alfred?" A reader asked from the middle of the group._

_"He's the giant spider that lives in the attic… keeps the rats down better than any cat." He smiled at the startled looks that stared back at him. "Anyway, here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it, and you'll have to excuse me."_

_Xonze stood, went to the corner and picked up a large crate and hauled it out of the room. A rotted smell wafted in his wake._

* * *

><p>Chapter 13<p>

**I Just Had A Creepy Thought**

The feeling of deja vu washed over Kate when she opened her eyes and found Rick beside her, slowly waking. She sat up, slipped from his arms and looked around the room.

She was in Rick's room, in Rick's bed. She pressed her hands to her eyes and rubbed before pushing the sheets back. She still wore her clothes from before so she hadn't somehow gone to bed and dreamed everything. Rick got up beside her, reached out and touched her shoulder and she leaned into it. "Did that really happen?"

"I don't know," she said and turned so that she could wrap her arms around his neck. "I've never been so scared."

"You didn't look it." He said and squeezed her. Her body tighten pleasantly at his embrace. "You still were rock solid."

She gave a small laugh. "On the outside, inside I was about to shatter."

"You wouldn't have, you'd have held it together… myself on the other hand was about to start blubbering if I had to stay in that cell by myself any longer."

"Well, at least now I know what to threaten you with when you get out of hand." He laughed and crushed his lips against hers.

She kissed back, happy to feel his lips, his heat and his hands on her skin. Hands began to roam, buttons started to pop free to expose skin to the chill of the room. Small moans escaped them both, hers a little louder when his hand slipped under her shirt. His own groan came up to join hers when she reached down. She undid his belt, the button on his jeans, while he did the same to hers.

The phone rang on the nightstand.

She broke off out of habit and picked it up. When she realized what she did she cursed and looked at Rick as she answered. "Beckett."

"Well… that didn't sound friendly."

"You better talk fast, Ryan. Very fast." She heard him gulp on the other side and took some solace in it. She adjusted her shirt which was completely undone and leaned back against the wall. Rick gave her a sly look as he moved over to her and hooked his fingers into her already unbuttoned jeans and started to pull them off her hips. "Hey! Yo! What are you doing?"

"What?" Ryan asked and she hissed through her teeth as she tried to bat Rick's hand's away. "Something wrong, Beckett?"

She glared at Rick as he worked the jeans off her legs and then tossed them to the floor. She drew her legs up and his smile widen as he bent forward and kissed her knees.

"No, Castle is pretending he's Superman and jumping off the bed." She kicked out at Rick, but he caught it easily. He laughed and returned her glare as he reached passed her legs and tugged her shirt off her shoulders.

"Glad to hear someone is having a good morning."

"It would have been better if you had't called, so spill, Ryan." Rick had her bra already undone and one arm out of the strap. At this rate he'd have her naked before Ryan even got to his point. She just hoped Rick knew better than to try anything until she was off the phone. Then again… it was Rick, and to prove it he started to kiss her neck while his hands moved over her stomach and chest, nimble and pleasuring.

"Right, so remember how you asked me and Esposito to go talk to Perlmutter again?"

"Ye—yeah." She hit Rick with a solid punch to the gut when his hand roamed to between her legs. He gave a soft cough and laughed as he brought his hand back up to rest on her hip. "Did he find something finally?"

"The lab report came back. Apparently there was some blood that wasn't from our victims." He said and she stilled her breathing, fear of the dream still riding high inside. Rick stopped his fooling around and slid in beside her, placed a hand to her neck and rubbed gently.

"What is it?" He asked and she just shook her head.

"Nothing." She said as she coved the phone and shrugged off his hand. She gave him a bland look before turning back to the phone. "Did it match someone, Ryan?"

"It did. Apparently it was a neighbor… Wolf."

"The parents of one of our victims?"

"No, the brother of Kelly Wolf." He said and she could just imagine the grin. "Already have uniforms going to pick him up and figured you'd want to be in on it, if you aren't too busy."

"Not too busy, I'll be in as soon as I can. Let me know when the brother is pulled in." She hung up, turned to Rick and punched him in the shoulder. "What the hell was that?"

He rubbed at his shoulder and shifted back on the bed, trying not to laugh which made her want to punch him again. "What? What's wrong?"

"Why would you even start that kind of stuff while I'm on the phone?"

"Because I love watching you trying to keep control, and almost lose it." He moved forward, kissed her chin and then moved down her neck again.

"Don't do that again, you — you're such a bastard. I'm trying to be mad at you right now." He nipped her collar bone and pushed her shirt completely off.

"Are you? Is that why your heart is thudding in your chest?" His kissed his way down to where she could feel the beat playing off her ribs. She let a sigh escape her, her anger going out with it. "Or could it be your love for me just makes your heart quicken?"

"Don't start, Rick." She reached down, pulled his head up to face her. "Why do I love you?"

"Because it's the only smart thing to do when you find your other half?"

"Eh, I was gonna go with the money and cool cars, but that works too." She kissed him this time for only a moment. "So, are we going to do this or just keeping touching and kissing and talking? We got places to be."

"Do what, Detective?" He waggled his brows and she fought a smile. "What are you thinking we should be doing?"

"Are you trying to make me say it? You get a sick little joy out of that, don't you?"

"I like it when you're a little more open." He said. She shook her head and moved to his ear, bit down gently on the lobe before whispering exactly what she was thinking. She felt him tense just slightly against her and grinned. "We can do that. We could totally do that."

"We could? Well, I'm glad to hear it, but I see you're still wearing a few too many clothes to go any further." She said as she reached up and finished unbuttoning his shirt and pushed it off. She took her hands, ran them down his chest and let her nails scratch gently against his skin. "That's better, but not quiet there yet."

"We'll have to fix that, won't we?" He said as he got off the bed.

"Yeah we will… you know I just had a creepy thought," Kate said as she watched him slip out of his jeans. He paused and looked at her.

"Don't ruin the moment. Please don't. I've been teased enough."

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't help it. Do you want to know what it was?"

"Not especially," he said as he slid back onto the bed and pushed her gently down and leaned over her. "Just let it be for now."

"Weyer must've framed that kid."

"Now you did it." Rick said and placed his face into the bunched up comforter beside her head and she had to smirk at the tone of his voice. "I asked you not to ruin it and you bring up Weyer."

"Oh, don't even start, Mr. I-had-a-great-idea-just-now. You've left me on the edge to go scribble down some piece of plot before."

"That happened once—only once. Are you never going to let me live that down?"

"I was very close, so no. Plus, it wasn't even that good of an idea." He rolled off of her. She turned to look at the side of his face as she rolled onto her side and placed her hand on his chest, drew circles with her nail. "They killed those kids, but I can't make them pay."

"Maybe they didn't." Rick said as he clasped his hand over hers, intertwined their fingers. "Maybe they just used it as an excuse to get us there?"

"Do you really believe that?" She pushed herself up on an elbow and stared down at him. She still couldn't get over how just looking at him made her feel all gooey inside. He glanced over to her and she saw his eyes drop slightly for only a moment to her breasts. Men… "It seemed too staged for it to just be this brother to have done it. Weyer and Thin Man must've had some part in it, and I'd be willing to bet they did almost all of it."

"Maybe, but I got a feeling the kid had wanted to do it. I can't imagine they just up and framed him for it. They probably helped him, but I wouldn't feel too bad for the kid."

"I just wish we could do something about those two." She rested her head down on his shoulder. "I just want to get them back for what they did us."

"Well, maybe we'll get that chance sometime. Even if we don't, I'll let it go for what I got out of it."

"What's that?"

"You. That's worth anything." He kissed the top of her head and she smiled, pushed herself up and straddled him.

"Sweet-talker." She said as she reached down.

They took their time, enjoyed the few moments they had with each other before they got dressed and headed out into the cool October 30th morning. Kate was surprised at the time, it was only a little after nine when they made their way into the station and she was seated at her desk.

She could see Rick in the break room making coffee as she wouldn't stop on the way in (they had used up enough time already), so she'd settled for his coffee making skills which weren't too shabby. She let her eyes drift over the rest of the room and found Ryan watching her from his desk. She tilted her head, waited for him to drop his eyes like always, but he didn't. In fact he stood and came over.

"What's up?" She asked when he stopped in front of her. He didn't say anything. "Ryan?"

"You and Castle okay?" He took a glance to the break room before he looked back.

"We're fine."

"Sure? I know it's really none of my business," he said as he sat down in her spare chair. "But you've been acting strange since that thing happened in the attic. I just want to make sure you two are doing all right."

She gave him a half smile. "We're doing okay, Ryan. Thanks, but theres nothing to worry about. I'm okay."

"All right." He leaned back and sighed. "This case has been strange."

"How so?" She asked, a little intrigued.

"Other than you running to the window? Just everything seems off. The way the kids died, how the evidence came about. This kid… he's a straight A student, never been in trouble with the law. Hell, he had a scholarship waiting for him when he finished high school."

"People just snap sometimes, Ryan."

"But like that? How did he even get in?"

"I think I can answer that," Esposito said as he came out of a side room, a folder in hand. "When the lab came back with the kid I decided to go back to the scene and do some looking around. I couldn't figure out how he got in either, until I checked the window. The lock was broken. It seemed fine just looking at it, but when you tried it the thing didn't lock. So, I went out onto the roof. Guess who's window leads to the roof next door?"

"The brother's," Rick said as he placed a coffee cup on Kate's desk.

"Yeah… It's no fun when you guess, Castle."

"Sorry," Rick said with a shrug and brought the mug to his lips and took a sip. "So is the brother here yet?"

Esposito checked his watch and shrugged. "Should be anytime now. You two want to handle the interview?"

Kate shook her head. "No, you and Ryan can, you did a lot of the footwork already."

"You sure?" Ryan asked.

"It's been a rough couple of days so you two can do it. I'll be watching though, so don't mess it up."

They both nodded and left her desk, went back to their own. Rick moved to the now empty chair and reached across the desk and wrapped his fingers around hers. "It has been a rough couple of days."

"Maybe, but this morning kind of mellowed it out a bit." She said and gave a grin that he returned. "At least it's almost over."

"I guess so. Though, we still have to setup for the Halloween party tomorrow night." She squinted and felt like she'd been hit. "I know, I forgot about it too, but we have a lot of people coming."

"I know… just wish we could relax by ourselves for a bit."

"I like relaxing with you."

"Not that way, you goof," she said through a full laugh.

"A guy can dream." He turned from her and to the hall leading to the elevator. Two uniforms were walking a young kid toward the interrogation room. Ryan and Esposito were on their feet already and heading into the observation room. "Shall we?"

Kate stood and together they walked to meet with the boys. When they got inside she walked to the glass and looked at the kid who was sitting at the table. He looked messed up, scared and maybe not completely there. The description that Ryan had given her didn't match anymore, by the look of him he probably could barely tie his shoes and would jump at shadows. She couldn't blame him for the last part. The more she watched him, his shifty movements and nervous eyes, the more she thought they got to him somehow.

"He sure doesn't look stable." Esposito said. "Which fits with our killer. Shouldn't be too hard to get a confession."

"As long as he doesn't go completely nutso on us." Ryan said and walked to the door. "Let's go get this over with."

She watched them enter into the room, the kid never looked up. She watched them sit down and start talking and the kid just kept shaking his head. They were in the room for over an hour and the kid never said two words. He just shook his head over and over and over.

It scared the hell out of Kate and when she looked to Rick for some kind of comfort she saw the same fear in his eyes. Did they do this to him? Drive him to kill those other kids?

"He's going to be convicted." Kate said after a moment and saw Rick's reflection in the glass move toward her. "And we don't know if he truly did it or if something forced him to."

"Even if we did, we couldn't prove it. He looks lost, Kate."

"Aren't we all…?" She reached up and knocked on the window Esposito looked back and then touched Ryan's shoulder as he stood. "This isn't right."

"But it's the way it is.

* * *

><p>As always a supersized thanks to ChrisS for beta reading this for me.<p> 


	14. This Isn't A Joke, Is It?

**A/N:**

_Xonze's readers were right on time. He smiled at them as he motioned to their seats. "Evening, my friends. Well, you've made it to the last chapter. You've made it through this house and I hope you perhaps learned something about yourself, and enjoyed yourself. Horror isn't for everyone, but for those that stuck it out, you're an amazing few. Thank you."_

_He hit the post button, stood and picked up his jacket from the chair. "I'm going to take a quick walk of the grounds. We're closing up for the season, so sadly after this you should pack up your stuff and get ready to leave."_

_All the faces looking back at him held a small bit of sadness and he couldn't help but feel the same. "But don't fret, I'm sure we'll all be back here next year, right? The story next time might not have anything to do with Umbrella Man, but who knows? He has a way of sneaking his way into things."_

_He threw his arms into his jacket, bent down and hit the post button. "Please, enjoy. That's all I hope for, that you enjoy yourself at least a little bit."_

* * *

><p>Chapter 14<p>

**This Isn't A Joke, Is It?**

The apartment looked like it had been ripped out of a horror movie, Rick thought, which was exactly what he was shooting for. He glanced over it until his eyes found Kate on a chair in the corner by the door, hanging spider webs. He had just finished hanging the bats over top of the kitchen counter and so took the time to watch her. She was wearing sneakers and so struggled a bit to reach all the points, but she didn't give up, or ask for his help. She'd do it on her own and he loved that about her.

He walked to the table where a number of dismembered limbs and pumpkins and scarecrows sat in separate piles and picked up a zombie head. He looked it over, at the missing nose and hanging eyeball and then walked over to Kate and held it up just behind her.

"Kate?"

"What?" She was stretching to get a plastic spider up near the ceiling.

"Can you take a look at this for me, I'm not sure if I did it right."

She sighed, turned and gave the slightest jump when she came face to face with the zombie head. She blinked slowly and then narrowed her eyes at him, a half smirk on her face. "He's an improvement over your face at least."

"Really? I was the model for it."

"I noticed, the missing nose and eye is the improvement part." She got down off the ladder and headed into the kitchen and took a bottle of water out of the fridge. "I thought Alexis was going to be here helping."

Rick tossed the head to the couch and walked to her, stole the water bottle from her hands after she took a sip and took one himself. "She was, but apparently one of her friends is having a party as well and she didn't want to hang out with us 'old people'."

"Speak for yourself." She snatched the bottle back.

"Harsh," he said and leaned against the counter. "You okay?"

"Fine, why?"

"Just want to make sure." He looked around the room, smiled at it. "I think we're almost done, the food should be here in an hour."

Kate moved in beside him and bent down, placed her elbows on the counter. "I can't believe we got this all done."

"We've always made a good team. I didn't doubt we'd do it." He dropped his hands into his pocket and found a little box there, danced his fingers around it and it made his heart thud a little faster. He'd been planning on this for a long time now, even while he held a secret from her. That would have been the last test of their relationship, he thought but that hadn't been the case. He was now even more sure of his choice in asking her this year. "I have a question for you, Detective."

She turned and looked at him, brows up and head tilted slightly. "Which is?"

"Do you love me?" Her lips curved and she stood from the counter, wrapped her arms around his neck. "Well?"

"I'm thinking." He pinched her side which caused her to laugh. "Yeah, I think so, even if you do have your nose still and both your eyes."

He bent and kissed her, turned her back to the counter and lifted her up on it. Her legs tangled around his and the kissing deepened until he broke off and stared at his office. There was a box in there on his desk. A piece of a surprise he had for her, but he'd forgotten to close the door. He pulled back, crossed the living room and snapped it shut.

"What's wrong?" She asked as she hopped off the counter. "You see something?"

"No, but I don't like the door being open like that."

"Since when?" She came to him and he moved in front of the door, blocked it. "What are you trying to hide?"

"Nothing, what makes you think I'm hiding anything?"

"Rick." She reached out and tried to push him aside, but he didn't move. "I can hurt you."

"Ah, but then you would be the aggressor and I the victim."

"Mhm, I will find out what you're hiding." She walked back toward the table and picked up a limb and tossed it at him, he ducked it. "Next time that could be your own leg."

"Noted."

They went back to finishing up the loft with ghostly decorations and other strange objects. The food arrived and Rick took care of it, though he kept a careful eye on the door to his study. Kate hadn't gone near it since, which surprised him a little, but then again she was probably waiting for a good chance where she wouldn't get caught.

With the loft finished and the food tables set up they both went to get changed into their costumes for the evening. It was while he was putting on his hat that he noticed that she had disappeared. He cursed, adjusted the long boots to his pirate costume and walked into his study to find her holding the card from inside the large box. Colored paper laid around it and he had to smile. She couldn't stand a mystery, and besides, it did have her name on it.

She turned when he entered, the pirate hat skewed on top of her waves of dark hair. The torn shirt and pants clung to her thin frame and he thought she had to be the hottest pirate that had ever lived.

"Find what you were looking for?"

"What does this mean?" She asked and held out the card. He didn't take it.

"What does it say?"

She gave a frown and turned it back, read it out loud. "This box is filled with the one thing I could never buy, never actually touch, but can always give when I'm with you and I will always give it to you. There's another box that is filled with what I can buy, but is only for show and holds one question."

"Huh, sounds like a riddle."

"Rick."

"Hey, you didn't want to wait so this is on you, my dear."

"What does it mean?"

"Maybe there's something else in the box?" Her frown deepened and she turned back to it, dug through the few pieces of paper left inside. He took a few steps to be behind her and dropped to a knee, his hands sweating as he tried to fish the box out of his pocket. Why did he wear tight leather?

"There's nothing else in here."

"Well, maybe I have it here." He said and tried his hardest to keep his voice steady as she turned around, the goofy pirate clothes and hat making quiet the picture. He held up the box, watched her eyes grow wider and wider until he thought they may pop out of her head, which would have been a shame.

"Rick, what are you doing?" Her hands shook, her posture tensed and he grinned up at her.

"Use your detective skills and you tell me." He snapped the little box open to show a ring that shined in the dim light from the windows.

"This isn't a joke, is it?"

Skeptical as always. "No, it's not. Katherine Beckett, will you marry me?"

She stumbled for words, one of the few times he could ever remember her doing so. She finally closed her mouth, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She opened them slowly, gave him a brilliant grin.

The doorbell rang and they both turned to look at the wall that hid the front door before looking back at each other. "Better answer fast, we have company."

"Yes," she said and Rick stood, gathered her into a hug as he began to laugh. "I may be out of my mind, but yes." She repeated in a low whisper against his ear and kissed him.

"I think we both are, but that's what makes it work." He slipped the ring on her finger and then intertwined their fingers together and kissed her again. He could feel her giddiness in the kiss, the happiness in it and he tried to share his own feelings with her in the same way. When the doorbell rang again they broke off laughing and headed out of his study.

They both came to a quick stop at who they found standing in the kitchen. Weyer and Thin Man.

"Hell no, not now." Rick said and moved away from Kate. "Get the hell out of here."

Weyer held up his hands. "Just want to be the first to say congratulations, my dear boy. Nothing more. So… Congratulations to both of you. I wish you all the best."

They faded away into the shadows behind them and Rick stood dumbstruck for a moment until Kate came up beside him and took his hand. "Think that will the last we see of them?"

He looked over and shook his head. "I don't know. But they don't matter right now. Come on, we have some guests to see to, and some great news to share."

She looked down at the ring on her finger and nodded and together they went to the door to let their ghoul and monster friends in on the celebration.

* * *

><p><strong>EN:**_And that's it for this story. I hope you got spooked sometimes, got confused and a little unsure of things. But, most of all, I hope you were entertained and found the story worth your time. A huge, special thanks to ChrisS for beta reading every chapter and not killing me for the long breaks between chapters, (you think two weeks is bad? Try almost a month at times.) :P And a great big thanks to all of you that reviewed. I love hearing what people think of my work._

_What's next? I have another story done from a while ago, but not many people have seen it, so I'll be posting that in the coming week. Its a little more racy at the end, but- ah well, you'll see. :P_


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